Becoming X
by James Harper
Summary: Sequel to "The Ties That Bind" featuring Liam Kynde, Santo Vaccarro, The Stepford Cuckoos , and Julian Keller. Liam, new to the mansion, has to deal with living in the world of heroes, and has to deal with being both a teacher and a student.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

"**X-Jet" SR-71 Blackbird, 102,089 ft, Mach 2.8**

**1201 hours**

Liam sat in the co-pilot's seat of the X-Men's SR-71 Blackbird, grinning like an idiot, his right hand on the control yoke of the jet. Outside the cockpit windows, the clouds were crawling by beneath the jet, like mountains carved out of cotton candy. There was a sense of motionlessness that crept through the surprisingly quiet cabin, as if the jet and its occupants were above time, beyond it, moving, but not really going anywhere. This was especially true of the man in the pilot's seat.

Logan sat in the pilot's seat, his feet up on the control console of the jet, his seat reclined, cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. Kurt and Piotr were in the rear cabin, also sleeping. Laura, sitting in the jump seat just behind Liam, whispered instructions as he needed them. For the most part, it wasn't too difficult. The basic joystick controls were the same as any other fixed wing aircraft. Tilt forward to push the nose down, pull back to make it come up, adjusting the pitch. Left and right controlled the roll of the jet, and the foot pedals in the floorboard controlled the yaw. The autopilot system helped make his movements smooth and controlled. He was grateful, though, that she wasn't letting him fly alone. He'd flown smaller aircraft, but none of them had been supersonic jets hurtling through the lower levels of the stratosphere at almost three times the speed of sound.

"Go ahead and pull back your throttle to fifty percent." Laura said softly, squeezing his left shoulder.

" Throttling back." Liam said, gripping the throttle control, and pulling back.

He heard a dramatic drop in the engine noise, and then a massive increase in sound as they dropped back below the sound barrier. The engines roared like monsters from hell, chewing their way forward through the rear cabins, and he felt a momentary bit of pity for Kurt and Piotr, who had most likely just been woken up rather rudely. Liam had to begin to actually fight the control yoke, as the jet continued to lose speed. When traveling faster than the speed of sound, the movement of the jet through the air at such a speed makes the control surfaces a feel a bit slippery, as the air moving around them doesn't have enough time to actually buffet or move them, and so it felt as if now the jet was moving through thicker air.

"Head for bearing zero eight nine." she said, gesturing off to his left. "And drop down to thirty thousand feet."

Liam nodded and complied, gently banking the jet, and then leveling off as he reached his desired heading. He pushed the control yoke forwards, dropping the nose a significant amount, and letting the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania fill his viewscreen.

"We should be entering New York's airspace in about three minutes." she said softly. "Then we can see how well you land."

Liam nodded, checking his instruments. Everything seemed to be in order. The HUD on the viewscreen glowed softly red, showing that he was flying more or less level with the artificial horizon indicator.

"Shouldn't be too bad. Just like skipping a rock across a pond." Liam chuckled.

"Well, not exactly. We don't have a traditional airstrip. We land vertically." she said calmly, scanning the viewscreen.

Liam turned to face her, a slightly panicked look on his face.

"Wait, what? This thing is VTOL? I can't land VTOL. I've never flown VTOL." he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

She smiled and patted his cheek affectionately.

"Don't worry. I'll walk you through it." she said.

"No, seriously. I shouldn't be landing this thing. Not unless you can give me a runway."

"Well…I can do that. We do have an escape runway that leads away from the mansion. We never use it for landings, though." she said, giving him a considering look. "We always hover, and then lower in through the roof hatch. It could work, though. Whatever you prefer."

"Yes. Absolutely. I definitely prefer the runway." he said, nodding.

He thought he heard a snort from Logan, but it just turned out to be a snore. The man hadn't moved.

"Okay. We need to spill off some speed." She said, typing commands into her control panel behind his seat. "When I tell you, I want you to take a descending circular path down to two thousand feet, and then follow the indicator."

The HUD changed before his eyes, a waypoint appearing several hundred miles ahead, below the cloud cover. Liam took a deep breath, and lowered the nose again, and tilted the jet. Three quick circles and he leveled off again, four thousand feet lower, heading for the waypoint again.

"Now, weather readings are indicating low cloud cover and heavy fog, but the waterfall near the entrance to the hangar always keeps the area pretty clear. Turbulent air doesn't hold fog well, and it's too low for cloud cover to be an issue." she said, pointing off in the distance at a whirling vortex of clouds. "You'll descend through that, and then the entry to the hangar will be a mile ahead."

Liam nodded, grateful that he had someone else there with him. He much preferred leaping out the back of a plane to piloting it. He lowered the thrust to forty percent, and extended his flaps as they entered the swirling clouds. He could feel the controls become more responsive, more touchy as the flaps whirred into place. He lowered the landing gear, as they passed six hundred feet, and it clunked into place solidly.

"Are we close?" he asked, not liking being unable to see the ground that was surely rushing up to meet the wheels.

"Close." she said, and they burst through the cloud cover, which revealed a cliff face.

In the split second that Liam took to register what he was looking at, he found a sheer rock face stretching up to touch the clouds, and falling all the way down to the floor of a forested valley. Sure enough, a waterfall kept the area clear of fog and clouds, shimmering white water roaring over the edge of the cliff to fall down the face of the rocks. Halfway down, the water split in two, taking two smaller paths down to a pool that surely lay below in the forest. Just below the split was a massive opening in the rock face. Inside the cave, Liam could just barely make out landing strip lighting, and the waypoint was set just inside the mouth of the opening. He couldn't tell how deep the opening went, though, and he was certain he didn't want to find out.

"Are you fucking shitting me?!" he shouted, pulling back on the yoke. "It's a cliff!"

"And the landing zone is in the cliff face. It's just like a normal hangar."

"Except that it's in a cliff!" Liam shouted, pulling harder on the yoke, which refused to move. "Fuck!"

"Too late ta pull out of it, kid. Gotta make the landing." Logan said. "Learn by doing."

Liam glanced over and found the older man holding his yoke, hat still pulled low over his eyes, eyes closed, unmoving except for the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest. Liam swore up one side and down the other, and turned back to the rapidly approaching opening.

"Let go, Logan." he snarled, and the yoke moved freely in his hands.

Logan folded his hands back over his stomach, and settled into his seat, slouching even further.

"Just land the jet. You've done thinks like this be-" Laura began, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Quiet." he snapped, as he flipped the HUD off, except for the distance to target reading.

Laura kept her hand on his shoulder, but shut up. Liam dropped the thrust to thirty percent, then to twenty, as they came even closer to the opening. The stall warning began blinking in the corner of Liam's vision, but he kept the thrust where it was. He nosed the jet a little to the left, a little to the right. As the distance to target hit five hundred feet, he cut thrust completely, and the jet coasted into the hangar's opening on momentum. The jet wasn't really made for gliding, but it was possible. Liam nosed the jet downwards, and the tires touched the landing surface, which from what Liam could see was made of some dull metal. He slammed the brakes on, and heard the tires lock and screech across the ground, though the jet came to a rapid halt. For a long moment, nobody moved or said anything. As Liam's eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the hangar, he found himself in a massive cavern, with a full length runway. The entire mountain that it was housed in must have been hollowed out.

The silence was broken by the rear cabin door opening. Kurt and Piotr came forward, Kurt limping and Piotr holding his head.

"Logan, Sind Sie verrückt?!" Kurt asked. "Have you lost your hairy mind?"

Logan sighed and sat up, adjusting his hat.

"Nah. Just takin' a nap, elf." He said, standing up and stretching, and then patting Liam's shoulder. "Not bad, kid. Any one ya can walk away from, right?"

Liam didn't make a sound. He just continued staring out the viewscreen, holding the yoke.

"Oh…well…Yes. Very nicely done, Liam." Kurt said uncertainly.

"Come on, you two. Let's go tell Slim and Frosty that we're back." Logan said, ushering the other two X-Men out the side door of the jet.

Another long moment passed.

"Liam?" Laura asked, coming around to sit on the arm of the captain's chair.

"Mm." Liam made a sound, but didn't move.

"You can let go of the yoke now." she said, smiling.

"Oh thank God."


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

**Headmaster's Office, Xavier's School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York**

**December 20, 1723 hours**

Liam knocked on the door to the headmaster's office, where Logan had sent him upon Laura prying his hands off of the Blackbird's controls. He was to meet with whichever headmaster was in the office at the time, introduce himself, and tell them that he was the new survival instructor Logan had found. He didn't know what to expect with either person, as neither Logan nor Laura had given him a personality description on either one. The only thing Logan had said was that "Slim", whom Liam assumed to be Scott Summers, was a "boy scout who needs his clock cleaned fer takin' up with 'Frosty the Snowbitch'". Liam wasn't sure what any of that meant, but he was relatively sure it would prove to be an interesting experience.

"Come in." a male voice came from within the office, and Liam pushed the door open, setting his duffel bag just inside.

He found an expansive library, with a huge sunset filled bay window on the far wall. In front of the window was a wide desk, with only a blotter, a pen set, and a name plate on it. In front of the desk was a pair of tall backed chairs, and behind the desk, in the headmaster's seat, was a relatively young man in a blue sweatshirt and red tinted sunglasses. Standing next to him, in a white corseted body suit, with an honest to goodness fur lined cape, was one of the most strikingly beautiful blonde women Liam had ever seen. Perfect hair, blue eyes so bright they almost glowed, an amazing body (that couldn't be entirely natural), and attitude to spare. The only thing that ruined the effect was the frown on her face. She'd probably be a lot prettier if she smiled.

Liam took two steps into the office and felt an unsubtle brush against his mind, like a toothbrush scraping the surface of his brain. He scowled, and wondered how long it would take her to get the message that he didn't like being mind probed if he tossed one of his telekinetic tangles in her face.

"I'd have turned your mind to a puddle of pissing itself goo before you summoned the strength of will to do it, my dear boy." the blonde said coldly. "And you and I both know I'm gorgeous."

"So you are. And if you don't like what's rattling around in my head, quit listening." he said, letting his mind go blank.

Liam's scowl softened, as his thoughts faded away, along with his expression. One of the advantages to being a Ranger was the advanced mental discipline you gained with their advanced training. Sometimes hiding what you were thinking, on your face as well as inside your head, was a necessity. In the age of telepaths and mind control devices, the Army had added mental strengthening to their training programs for Special Forces troops. While he couldn't actively resist a mind probe by even the least skilled telepath, he could clear his mind, and toughen his mental shields enough to make it harder for them to scan his surface thoughts. Broadcast enough mental white noise and she'd have to push harder to reach what he was really thinking. And even then, if he quieted his thoughts enough, stopped thinking, she wouldn't be able to get much more than a mild sense of annoyance from him without forcing herself into his mind.

"You must be 'Frosty'. It's nice to meet you." he said pleasantly.

She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, and again her mind brushed against his, making the inside of his skull itch. She wasn't exerting herself yet, but she was making her presence known.

"It's not nice to be evasive." she said.

"It's not nice to rub the inside of a stranger's head raw just because you can." he replied.

Her frown turned into a suspicious look, and then a slight smirk.

"Touché. Have a seat, my boy." she said, gesturing to the tall backed chairs.

He smiled, nodded, and sat, though he didn't really care for the way she called him 'my boy'. Normally it wouldn't have bothered him, but she made it sound like she actually owned him. The man in the glasses folded his hands on the desk, giving Liam an appraising look.

"So, you're the private investigator that helped Logan track down Laura." said the man.

Liam nodded.

"I am. Liam Kynde, at your service. Happy to have helped."

"And you think that entitles you to a spot here at the Institute?" the man asked.

"Wait, what?" Liam asked, a little taken aback.

"There was a time, long ago, that this school would accept anyone who happened to be a mutant. Now, we have to be more selective. You can't just help out one of our more tenuous members and expect to waltz in here unrestrained." the man said, frowning. "There are requirements and rules that must be followed, and acceptance protocols that must be met. So far, you've met none of them."

"Woah, woah. I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here." Liam said. "Logan offered me a place to stay, to learn how to control my powers better, maybe do some good in the world for my kind. That's all."

He glanced at the blonde, whose face was impassive.

"Would you help me out here, Frosty? Tell him I'm telling the truth. I'm not looking for a handout or anything. I just want to help."

She squinted at him and sighed.

"He's telling the truth, as far as he knows it." she said, and Liam kicked himself for letting his mental control slip. "Don't beat yourself up, my boy. I'm just _that_ good."

Liam shook his head, and looked back to the man.

"Look, Slim, if me being here is a problem for you or your people, I can leave. This was a "give it a shot and see" kind of deal, so it's no loss if it doesn't work out." Liam said, rising out of the seat. "Say the word and I'm on a plane back to LA and out of your hair."

"Don't be so hasty, Mister Kynde." The man in the glasses said, raising a hand to stop Liam. "If you'll forgive us, this meeting wasn't all it seems."

"It seems to me that you're trying to look out for your people, and weed out those that might do damage to the people you're looking out for." Liam said, not moving for the door, but not sitting back down either.

"Alright, it's exactly what it seems. But you passed. With flying colors." he said. "Other than that whole 'Slim and Frosty' business, I'd say you're going to fit in here very well."

Liam allowed a tentative smile to cross his face.

"Well, in all fairness, neither of you introduced yourselves."

The man chuckled, and stood up, offering his hand.

"Fair enough. I'm Scott Summers, one of the school's headmasters. I'm also the X-Men's field leader." he said, shaking Liam's hand with a firm grip. "It's good to have you with us, Mister Kynde."

"Liam, please. Good to meet you, Mister Summers."

"Scott, please."

Liam nodded, and offered his hand to the blonde.

"Emma." she said, shaking his hand with her gloved fingers, as if it was made of something unpleasant.

'Miss Frost if you're nasty.' raced through Liam's head unbidden, and he blushed instantly.

For her part, she didn't react visibly, but he heard her voice in his head.

'I heard that.' Her voice echoed in his head, much less abrasively, as she released his hand. 'And you have _no_ idea.'

He got the distinct impression that she was teasing, not offering. A slight dip of her head confirmed it.

'That's right. You'll never know.'

Well, at least he knew where he stood with her. He supposed that was good. Though why she felt the need to make it clear was…well, unclear. Maybe she'd had problems in the past with new recruits. He supposed it didn't matter.

"What do you say we get you settled in?" Scott asked, still smiling.

Liam nodded brightly.

"Great. I don't have that much to settle, though. Just one duffel." he said.

"You'd be surprised how many people arrive here with just one duffel." Scott said, coming around the desk and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I'll have one of the students show you to your room. You'll be living in the second floor of the faculty dorm. You're expected to do a night watch shift at least twice a month. And we'll get your classes set up properly once you feel ready to take on students."

Liam nodded.

"Sounds good. I'm eager to get started." he said, picking up his duffel bag and walking out of the office with Scott next to him.

As they turned the corner, Liam found himself face to face with a quickly forming pool of mercury. The silvery metal rose up from the floor, forming a vaguely humanoid shape that rapidly resolved itself into a young woman with red hair, silver skin and eyes, and a bright metallic smile.

"Miss Frost said that we have a new instructor who needs the tour." she said to Scott, staring Liam up and down.

"Yeah. Cessily Kincaid, Liam Kynde, one of Logan's…friends. He's going to be teaching survival, evasion, and combat, once the holiday break is over." Scott said.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Liam said, nodding.

"You too, Slick. Come on. We'll get you settled in." she said, sliding up next to him and taking his arm.

Liam turned to Scott as Cessily pulled him off down the hall.

"Thanks, Scott. I'll try not to let you down." he said.

Scott said something about not worrying about it too much, but he was drowned out by Cessily's chatter.

"So, I hear you've got something going on with Laura. You should know, she's my best friend and if you hurt her…"

Liam saw Cessily's fingers elongate into sharp talons, and he realized how hard her skin was under his arm.

"Uh, right." he muttered as they walked.

"Good. Now, what exactly is your class going to be like? Because if it's anything like Logan's classes, you won't make any friends in the student body."

Cessily went on like that as they moved on down the hall. Liam wondered if he'd ever actually make it to his room.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

**Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin**** Memorial**** Auditorium, Xavier School, Westchester, New York**

**December 20, 1858 hours**

Liam sat backwards on a swiveling chair on the dais, along with the rest of the staff of the Xavier School. Just in front of the dais stood a row of older students, though none of them looked to be near Liam's age. He was twenty seven, and the oldest of them looked twenty five, maybe. Laura had explained that they were the senior class, and the junior instructors. They were a secondary team of X-Men, called, oh so creatively, the New X-Men. They were apart from the instructors, and apart from the rest of the students coming in. They looked nervous. No. Liam amended that thought. They weren't nervous. They were worried. About what, he didn't know.

Scott stood at a podium in front of the still filtering in student body.

"Come on, people. Let's get this thing going." he called to the kids, who took their seats in their own sweet time.

Liam glanced down the line, and mentally went over the list of instructors he'd been introduced to.

'Emma "Frosty" Frost. Dr. Henry "Call me Hank" McCoy. Robert " Call me Bobby" Drake. Ororo Munroe. Kurt Wagner, Elisabeth "Logan calls me Betsy" Braddock. Katherine "Kitty" Pryde. Piotr "Pete" Rasputin.' He thought. 'I think that's all correct.'

He leaned over to Pete, and nudged the larger man, who leaned down close to hear.

"Got a question, big guy." he whispered. "Why's the auditorium named after you?"

"Ah. Well…I was dead for a while." Pete said.

Liam raised his eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really." Pete said, nodding. "I got better."

Liam nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I'd say so." Liam said, turning back to face the room filling with students.

They all appeared to be between the ages of about twelve to twenty five. Some were obviously mutants, like the giant pile of walking rock that stood with Laura, or the wolfy kid in the back row, or even the girl with literally flaming hair on the center aisle. Most of them, though, gave no obvious indication that they were different. Liam counted himself lucky that there was no real external manifestation of his powers. It had been easy for him to hide in plain sight, but for some, it was much more difficult.

"Alright, guys and girls. Let's settle down. Now." Scott said, and though he was polite, the kids almost immediately shut up. "Quick meeting tonight. Just going over Christmas Break info. Now, most of you will be going home for break, and so you need to fill out your travel voucher forms and hand them in by tonight, since I'm doing all that paperwork in the morning."

"For those of you staying, we have a new instructor this holiday season, Mister Liam Kynde." Scott said, gesturing to Liam there in the row of instructors.

Liam nodded and waved, which elicited a few whistles and catcalls from the audience. Liam couldn't help but blush, though Kitty leaned over from his left and whispered just loud enough to be heard.

"Don't worry about it. They do this to everybody. We're more like a family than a school, so you get used to it."

Liam just nodded again.

"Okay, okay. That's enough. Now, those of you staying will have a chance to beta his class. He's going to be doing firearms training, SERE training, and giving Logan a hand doing hand to hand combat. His class, unlike most of your classes, will be an elective, for students seventeen years old and over. If you want to take it, you can, but keep in mind that it'll be a serious undertaking. Now, does anyone have any questions for Mister Kynde."

The walking pile of rubble next to Laura raised a rocky hand.

"Santo. Go ahead."

Santo turned to face Liam, and he found that the rocky face was composed not of a single rock with many facets, but lots and lots of smaller rocks, held together by some red, smoky, ethereal energy that peeked out between the stones and filled his eye sockets. Two large rocky horns protruded from his forehead, and curved around his head, giving him a ram-like look.

"What's SERE training, Mister Kynde?"

Liam smiled.

"Just call me Liam. It stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Extraction. Basically I'm going to teach you how to do some black ops stuff. Be Army Rangers. It'll be hard. Harder than just about anything you've likely encountered. The training itself is designed to break down even the strongest soldiers." he said. "I'm going to try to break you. Any of you who choose to participate, that is. You can trust that I won't hurt any of you permanently, but I _will_ hurt you. And I _will_ terrify you. And I _will_ make you stronger than before."

Most of the students had gone silent. Santo looked pensive, but nodded.

"Uh, thanks." he said, in his gravelly voice.

Liam just nodded.

"Okay. That was…a little unnerving." Scott said, turning to the other instructors. "Now, with that done, does anybody have anything else to add?"

Nobody spoke, all of them shaking their heads negatively.

"Okay. Good. Students? Any questions, comments?" he turned back to the assembled kids.

"Uh, yeah. I'm back." a voice called from the rear of the room.

The students and instructors all focused on the voice, which turned out to be coming from a dark haired young man just coming through the door at the rear of the auditorium. His eyes glowed softly green with power, and he took long strides towards the front of the room.

"Julian!" Cessily cried out, darting out ahead of her squadmates.

The rest of the New X-Men team, save Laura, broke away from the dais, rushing to greet the newcomer. Beside him, Liam heard Kitty swear creatively under her breath.

"Stupid son of a crackwhoring bitch." she muttered, and rolled her eyes when Liam gave her a confused look. "I spend too much time around Logan."

Scott was calling for order, but the student body chattered away, abuzz with excitement. He finally gave up.

"Yeah, yeah. Meeting adjourned." he said to no one in particular, as he and Emma went to push their way through the throng to get to the newcomer.

Most of the instructors followed. Liam couldn't help but notice that Laura hung back. He got up from his chair and went and sat down beside her on the edge of the platform, his legs hanging just off the ground.

"Who's the new guy?" he asked softly.

She sighed and pushed herself up next to him.

"Julian Keller." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"The kid who never made it back?" Liam asked. "Your ex?"

She nodded, moving closer. He instinctively put an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah. That's him." she sighed again.

"Wow. That's rough." Liam muttered. "Don't worry about it, though. It'll work itself out somehow."

As he said this, the crowd parted, all of them looking in his direction. Or rather, Laura's direction. At the center of the crowd was Keller, and he looked decidedly…unhappy. His eyes were glowing just a little bit brighter, and wisps of energy began to rotate slowly around his clenched fists.

"Laura…come here." he said through clenched teeth.

She sat up straight, and shook her head.

"No, Julian."

The energy around him began to crackle and hum, and most of the students stepped back out of the way. Scott looked like he was going to step in, but Emma placed a hand on his shoulder, and shook her head slightly.

"You bitch. I can't believe you'd take up with some random stranger, just days after we split up." Keller snarled.

Liam slid down off the stage, raising a hand.

"Easy with the name calling, boy. There's no reason you can't keep a civil tongue in your head." he said. "She couldn't help what happened after you two called it quits. Kidnapped, drugged. Bad guys, doing bad things. Ring any bells?"

Liam decided not to mention the particular form that those bad things took. He wasn't sure if Laura cared that the particular form of torture might become public knowledge, but it wasn't his information to share. Keller turned his face towards Liam, a look of disgust crossing his features.

"Fuck you. You have no idea who you're dealing with. I could turn you into a smear on the carpet in a second." Keller growled, stalking forward, his power growing with each step. "You stay the hell away from her. You might have been a rebound fuck, but that's all."

Liam approached him slowly, hands out to his sides, open, not threatening. He and Keller wound up standing almost chest to chest, the glowing mutant a good two inches taller than Liam. He could feel the waves of power coming off of the kid, as they vibrated his ribs in his chest. It was turning more confrontational than he'd like, but letting the students (even the older ones) push him around wasn't a good way to make a first impression on the student body. Besides, he liked Laura. A lot. And calling her names wasn't a way to get on Liam's good side.

"I asked you to keep a civil tongue in your mouth. Now I'm telling you." he said, his body language still non-threatening. "Be nice, boy. I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friends."

"Who the fuck are you to me, little man? Who the fuck do you think you are?" Keller asked. "Fuckin' bitch, man. You aren't shit to me."

With that, he pulled back his right fist, aiming right for Liam's face. By the time he pulled back his arm, Liam had drawn his Walther PPS from the holster inside his waistband, and pressed it against Keller's head, to several startled gasps. Keller's fist came forward, and Liam sidestepped it, snaring the arm with his left, and kicked Keller's legs out from under him. Keller went down hard, and Liam kept a hold of his arm. He wound up hanging awkwardly by his arm, one leg bent back, one straight out on the floor, pistol now pressed to the opposite side of his head.

"Now, I just told you to be nice, and you ignored me. I don't like being ignored, you little cock monger." Liam said calmly. "Do you think your telekinesis is faster than a speeding bullet? Huh? Is your name Clark Kent, boy?"

Keller turned his head just enough to glare at Liam out of the corner of his eye.

"Let's find out." he snarled, his powers increasing in energy.

Liam readjusted his aim and fired one round into the floor, the shot ringing out in the auditorium, eliciting a few shrieks of terror. He switched the safety back on the weapon, but he was willing to bet that it had escaped Keller's notice. He moved the still hot barrel back against Keller's temple, and the smell of burning hair and cordite filled the area.

"Really, boy? Is that really the way you want this to go down? Because I don't have a bit of a problem firing again."

Keller was silent for a long moment, his eyes wide.

"Man has a gun pressed to your head, Keller. Might not wanna make him mad." Logan muttered.

Keller glanced over at Logan, and slowly his powers started dimming in volume. Slowly the greenish energy dissipated, leaving the room rather silent.

"No." Keller said softly.

"Good." Liam said, hauling Keller to his feet.

He kept the pistol to Keller's head, but switched his grip from Keller's arm to the back of his neck. He turned him around to face Laura.

"Now, apologize, boy. Say you're sorry, and be nice about it."

Keller sighed exasperatedly, and looked Laura in the eye.

"I'm very sorry, Laura, for calling you names."

"And for disrupting your evening." Liam added.

"And for disrupting your evening." Keller parroted.

"Now to everyone else."

Keller turned with Liam's insistence and faced the rest of the staff and students.

"I'm sorry for disrupting your evening."

Liam nodded, and let Keller go, shoving him back towards the crowd. By the time Keller turned around to face him, Liam had reholstered the weapon, and was standing there with a blank expression on his face.

"Good. Now go away."

Keller stood there for a moment, and then spread his hands wide.

"Where am I supposed to-" he began.

"Awaaaaaaay." Liam repeated, louder and slower. "Don't care where as long as it's away from here, boy."

Keller gave Liam a suspicious look, and then cast one towards Laura that was pure hate, but he turned and walked back out of the auditorium. Scott turned to face Liam.

"Everyone out!" he shouted angrily, and the students moved quickly to comply.

Most of the faculty assisted in getting everyone out, though Logan, Emma, Laura, and Hank stayed along with Scott. As the room cleared and the doors shut, closing them in, Scott raised a hand to his glasses, ready to strip them away at a moment's notice.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't put you through the floor right now. Pulling a gun? On a student?! Are you insane?" he shouted.

Liam shook his head, and raised both hands slowly.

"Let me show you." he said, slowly pulling the weapon out of the holster again.

He ejected the magazine, and slipped it into his pocket. He pulled the slide back, and the chambered round popped into the air. He caught it and offered it to Scott. The older man lowered his hand, and took the round. It's brass casing housed a clear tip, but otherwise it looked like a normal bullet.

"Plastic? It's still lethal at that close a range." Scott said grimly. "I can't have-"

"Water. It's water surrounded by a thin plastic layer. When you fire the bullet, it breaks the plastic, and water is all that comes out. And even then, it's mostly steam." Liam said. "It'll give you a nasty burn, and a bruise from hell, but it won't penetrate the skin. Not in the slightest. Plus, I put the gun back on safety after that first shot. I never would have actually pulled the trigger."

Emma put a hand on Scott's shoulder.

"He's telling the truth. He never intended to pull the trigger at all." she said. "The first round was for effect, but if Keller had backed down, he wouldn't have fired that one either."

Scott glared at him again, then back at the bullet, then back at him. He tossed the round back to Liam, but his jaw was still set grimly.

"This isn't over. I won't have you pulling guns on my students." he said evenly. "I don't care how non-lethal they seem. I will not have it."

Liam nodded.

"Won't happen again. Outside of class, that is."

Scott stared at him for another long moment, and turned on his heel, striding for the exit.

"Come on, the rest of you. We have to go calm the school down."

Logan, and Hank followed Scott out of the room, and Laura paused to lay a soft kiss on Liam's cheek as she left.

"I could have handled him, you know." she said, walking backwards down the aisle. "But thank you."

"I know. And you're welcome." he said.

As the door closed behind her, he turned to face Emma, who was frowning at him.

"So, my boy. Tell me. When are you planning on telling Scott that only the first two rounds in that clip are water rounds?" she asked, pointing to his pocket.

He smiled.

"I won't tell if you won't, Frosty."

She gave him an unamused half smile, and turned to leave the room.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

**Infirmary****, Xavier School, Westchester, New York**

**December 21, 0555 hours**

Metal doors swished open, admitting Liam into the medical quarters in the sub basement of the school. He was scheduled for his initial physical for entry into the school, both as a student and an instructor, and was supposed to be meeting Hank McCoy at zero six hundred hours. Of course, being in the Army, Liam's clock ran a little fast. After all, if you're not five minutes early, you're late. He strolled into the large room, looking around. To his left was what looked like an operating room, closed off, sterilized and sealed. To the right was some sort of lab setup, with dozens of machines whose functions Liam could only guess at. Directly were two long rows of hospital beds, and at one of the far beds, the blue furred feline mutant, Hank McCoy, stood over a young girl with catlike features as well, holding a clipboard, and smiling. Liam leaned against the wall to wait his turn.

"Well, Kaylee, after much intense study and rumination, I have your test results here. Do you want to take a look?" he asked.

The little blonde, probably no more than six or seven, nodded vigorously, her pointed ears perked up.

"Uh huh!"

He offered her the clip board, and she took it in her small hands. She scrutinized the page as McCoy watched, squinting and examining, even putting a thoughtful fist to her chin.

"I dunno what all these numbers mean, since I'm not a doctor, but I think it says I'm gonna be okay." She said, looking up at the blue furred mutant.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge. Benjamin Disraeli." Hank said, grinning broadly. "Indeed you are, little Kaylee. You're going to be just fine. Eat plenty of chicken soup, drink lots of water, stay out of the weather, and your cold should be gone in no time."

"'Kay! I can do that. Thanks Doctor McCoy!" she said, hopping down from the bed, moving towards Liam and the exit.

When she found him there, leaning against the wall, she slowed, and her ears flattened back against her head.

"You're the man with the gun." she said softly, giving him a narrow eyed look.

Liam nodded and squatted down to put himself on her level.

"I am. My name's Liam." he said.

"Guns are dangerous. Guns aren't nice. They hurt people." She said, edging around him. "You shouldn't have shot that gun so near Julian."

Liam looked apologetically at her.

"I know. I'm sorry I did it. It was a stupid thing to do. I wasn't thinking." he said. "But it's safely locked away now, so nobody can get to it."

"Did you tell Julian you're sorry?"

"Not yet. Do you think I should?"

"Only if you really mean it. You should always tell the truth." she said, nodding. "But yes, you should say it. I think maybe you scared him. You should say 'sorry' for that too."

Liam thought about it for a moment, and nodded. He didn't really need Keller gunning for him his entire stay at the school.

"Okay. I'll tell him I'm sorry today."

"By what time?"

Liam smiled.

"I don't know. What time do you think is a good time to say you're sorry?"

She thought about it for a long moment.

"Dinner time. That's at six."

"Okay then. I'll tell him by dinner time."

"You'd better. And don't try skipping it. I'll be checking up on you, Mister Liam."

Liam nodded solemnly.

"I won't skip. Promise."

She let her ears perk back up just a bit, and nodded, satisfied.

"Okay. Good. Maybe by dessert you and Julian can be friends. Won't that be nice?"

Liam grinned.

"Sure. Maybe so."

"'Kay. I'll let you have Doctor McCoy now." she said, turning back to Hank with a serious look. "Watch him, Doctor McCoy. He seems okay, but I don't know for sure yet."

Hank nodded.

"I shall endeavor to give him my utmost scrutiny." he said.

Kaylee rolled her eyes, and smiled.

"You're silly. 'Bye, Doctor McCoy!" she said, waving brightly and leaving the room.

Liam stood back up and approached the doctor, smiling.

"Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is." Hank said, offering his hand.

"Yoda?" Liam asked, shaking the proffered paw.

"Indeed. So, you're our newest recruit, then. You seem to be in excellent shape, but let's find out what makes you tick. Have a seat." Hank indicated the nearest bed, and Liam sat down as the doctor began attaching EKG leads and a blood pressure cuff. "Medical history?"

Liam shrugged.

"Not much to tell. Allergic to penicillin. Broke my left arm when I was a kid. Shot once in the left shoulder. Long range sniper shot entered but didn't exit. Minor surgery to extract the round. That's pretty much it." Liam said, as the blood pressure cuff inflated with a hum.

"Good. Good." Hank muttered to himself, watching the EKG screen. "Looks good from this. Let's take a listen. Shirt off please."

As Liam slid his shirt over his head Hank inserted the earpieces of his stethoscope, and pressed the membrane against Liam's chest. He tried several places, listening to heart, lungs, and for some reason Liam couldn't fathom, stomach.

"Sounds good Looks good. A few vials of blood and we'll send you off to the Danger Room for your physical assessments." Hank said, reaching into a nearby medical cart and selecting an IV needle. "Little stick…"

Hank slid the needle into Liam's elbow, and then drew several tubes of blood for analysis.

"All you have left to do is design your uniform."

Liam rolled his eyes.

"This is where you tell me I have to wear tights, isn't it?"


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**  
**Danger Room, Xavier School, Westchester, New York**  
**December 21, 0755 hours**  
**  
**Metal doors swished open, admitting Liam into yet another shiny shiny room. This one was almost as big as the hangar Logan and Laura had managed to get him to fly into. The walls curved to a distant arcing ceiling, and a multitude of panels covered the walls, hiding lord knows what behind them. Inside the room stood four X-Men, fully suited up and ready for battle, just like Liam was.

Thankfully, the X-men's tech was far beyond any normal tailor or seamstress, and his "uniform" options hadn't been limited by much. There were, of course, many many stretchy fabrics made of "unstable molecules" to select from (and they all looked like tights to him), but there were many thicker, looser fabrics to use as well. For his initial session, he'd selected a fairly un-superhero-like outfit, deciding to "fine tune" his "look", as Hank had put it, later on.

He wore a gray Under Armor style long sleeved shirt, and over that was a navy blue armored motorcycle jacket with a spine protector. A black duty belt hung around his waist, sporting a pair of tactical holsters strapped tightly to his legs, which held two training stun pistols that the armory stores had supplied. He'd managed to find something that felt good in his hand, and according to the computers, it packed almost as much punch as a normal bullet. Black BDU style pants and calf high Corcoran jump boots rounded out the outfit. Surprisingly, it was comfortable and he didn't feel too ridiculous in it. As he entered the Danger Room, and caught sight of the other X-Men, he felt positively prudish.

Bobby wore a pair of blue knee length shorts…and that was it.

Kitty had on black leather pants with the outer thigh areas cut out, a black crop top, and a short black jacket.

Three oddly familiar looking identical girls in their early twenties stood in a close group, all wearing white body suits with different colored trim. One red, one blue, and one green. They didn't just look alike. They moved alike, and breathed at the same time and rate. Liam would almost be willing to bet that their hearts beat in sync.

And of course, all of the X-Men's clothes were skin tight.

"Um…wow. I feel overdressed." Liam said, moving into the room.

"Don't worry about it. You get used to it." Bobby chuckled, clapping Liam on the shoulder.

"I've been meaning to ask, why do you superhero types always wear such tight, revealing clothes?" Liam asked, trying not to stare at the women in the room. "Don't you guys, you know…ever feel self conscious?"

Bobby looked at the women, then down at himself, and then back at Liam.

"Less for the bad guys to grab onto." Kitty said.

"Plus, if you had a body like these girls, would you ever feel self conscious? Like, ever?"

Liam thought about it for a minute, and shrugged.

"Fair enough. You guys don't mind if I'm a little more…uh, modest, in my clothing selection, do you?" he asked. "I prefer a little more protection in my battle gear."

"Sure. As long as you're comfortable." Kitty said, nodding. "Shall we get started?"

Liam nodded, and unfastened the retention straps on his holsters.

"Sure, let's get this party started." he said. "Rules of engagement?"

"We're going to start with-" the blonde in blue said.

"Some target practice, then we'll move on-" the blonde in green continued.

"To hand to hand combat, and then actual battlefield operations." the blonde in red finished.

"First though, we need to introduce ourselves." they spoke as one.

Liam looked confused. They sounded familiar too, but he couldn't exactly place them.

"But we all met last night. Except for you three." he said. "I still get the feeling I know you, though."

"You met our mother yesterday." the blue suited blonde said.

That's when it hit Liam. They looked just like Emma Frost. She didn't look old enough to have daughters this age, though.

"She's not. We're-"

"Clones. One offs. Basically we're like-"

"Perfect copies. No picture degradation. You might even say-"

"We're better than the original. But don't tell her we said that. She'd be very cross." again they spoke as one.

Liam was silent for a long moment.

"I bet you girls are popular at parties." he said.

As one, they cocked their heads to the side, as if considering the prospect.

"Not as popular as you'd think." they said.

"And they mean you need to meet the X-Men. You met our Kitty and Bobby and Ororo, our civilian selves, not the X-Men. You need to know us on the battlefield as well as in the classroom." Kitty amended.

"Oh. Right."

"I'm Shadowcat." she said, offering her hand.

Liam reached out to shake it, but he passed right through her. There wasn't even a sense of friction or differing in temperature against his skin. She didn't go transparent at all, just insubstantial.

"I also do computers. To death, in most cases." she said, nodding.

"Cool."

"Iceman, at your service." said Bobby, as the temperature in the room dropped precipitously.

Frost began to form on the edges of his skin, and it quickly crept up his arms, legs, torso, and chin until he was covered in it. He seemed to shimmer and grow sharper, and the frost turned to bluish ice. His nose and mouth receded into the ice, leaving him with what appeared to be a masked face, small sharp ice spikes adorning the rest of his body.

"Okay, technically that's cooler." Liam said, glancing at Kitty, who just shook her head at the lame joke.

"And we are the-"

"Three-In-One, though they call us-"

"The Stepford Cuckoos. I'm Phoebe."

"I'm Mindee, and-"

"I'm Celeste. We don't-"

"Have individual codenames yet."

"We're working on it." they said. "And we're telepaths."

"Oh…fancy." Liam said. "Sorry about any inappropriate thoughts you may overhear."

They all three shrugged as one.

"We're used to it. You'd be shocked at the things that some people think."

Liam chuckled.

"I doubt it."

"So now that the introductions are taken care of, have you given any thought to a callsign?" Shadowcat asked.

Liam shook his head.

"Not really. I've always been Liam. Or Kynde, when I was in the military. Only nickname that ever stuck was Sarge."

"Oh, I'm sure we can come up with something." Iceman said, and even though his mouth wasn't visible, Liam got the feeling he was grinning.

Shadowcat groaned, but didn't respond. The X-Men all backed up a few steps, giving Liam some room.

"Are you ready, Liam?" Phoebe asked.

He nodded.

"Danger Room, begin-" Mindee began,

"Program assessment one." Celeste finished.

A chirp followed her voice, from midair, and one of the panels on the wall slid away, revealing a classic red and white bull's-eye. Liam drew his weapon and fired the weapon which made a peculiar ringing whoop sound, a bolt of pale blue energy streaking through the air and knocking the target back into the wall. Another panel slid open, and another target was hit. Two more targets, two more shots, two more hits.

"Well, this is fun." Liam said, watching his ammo gauge not even dip.

Targets began to appear so rapidly that Liam had to draw his other weapon to keep up, though he didn't miss. The X-Men backed away and targets began appearing high and low, left and right, front and back. Liam actually began missing a few targets here and there, and was starting to get annoyed. He hated missing. Iceman spoke up, though, halting his firing.

"Hang on, kiddo."

Liam stopped firing and turned to face the icy X-Man, who approached, and spoke.

"Try this." he said, gesturing to one of the targets, and it instantly coated in ice.

The mechanism ground to a halt, and snapped off at the wall, falling to the floor. Bobby gestured at another target, and a large ice spear flew from his hand, impaling the target and driving it back into the wall, jamming the panel that hid it open. He then reached over and lightly took Liam's pistols away.

"Alright. Carry on." Iceman said. "Make with the pew pew."

Liam looked at him incredulously, and sighed. He closed his eyes, drawing on that inner reserve of control, and tapped into whatever mysterious source of energy he drew on for his powers. Theoretically he knew that his mind was the source, but it never felt like a mental action, using his powers. It was more like he drew the energy from the air itself. Either way, he gathered some compact balls of energy in his hands, and threw them towards the nearest targets, which both shattered.

Liam couldn't help but smile. Though he was uncomfortable with his powers, he could still appreciate a neatly destroyed target. He threw a few more, and they all landed on target.

'Try firing the energy rather than throwing it.' all three of the triplet's said, their mental "voice" much softer inside his mind than their mother's had been. 'Use your hands like your pistols. The energy is your ammunition.'

Liam glanced over at them and found them standing still, arms folded across their chests, eyes closed, breathing deeply. They were good. Subtle. He'd almost thought they'd spoken out loud. He figured Emma was too, but the girls had done it without him even noticing. He thought back (remembering to keep his mental voice at a normal level) at them.

'Doesn't work like that. I can create it, but I can't propel it.'

'Sure you can. Watch.' the multi-voice said.

Images began flashing through his head. It was as if they were leading him down a mental path to how he should activate his powers. He saw his hands begin to gather energy, like normal, but then the energy compacted into a tightly woven ball, and shot away from him.

'Just think of your hands as projectors. Or repulsors.' the voice thought. 'Gather the energy, and force it away.'

He saw another blast of power gathering, this time at his shoulders, and it traveled down his arms, releasing itself like a cannon blast as it reached his fingers. The mental target exploded, and he found himself back in reality, able to think without seeing what they were showing him. He released the power he'd been holding, letting it dissipate, and took a deep breath, trying to gather the energy like they'd showed him. It shuddered, and flickered around his shoulders, but wouldn't gather properly. He could feel it swirling around, but it went nowhere. He couldn't make it move down his arms.

"Dammit." he muttered. "Hang on."

He drew out his power, letting it swirl around his arms, not coalescing in any particular place, just growing, moving, like water flowing over his skin. He forced more power into the air, and it began to become visible energy, clear writhing bands of telekinesis warping the air around him. He raised his arms, forcing the energy into a firm but elastic shape, like a huge mental rubber band, anchored in his palms. He increased the solidity of the energy, and felt it trying to bend his arms at the elbow. He forced his arms to stay straight, and kept up the tension, finally releasing it from his shoulders, and it snapped forward, coming loose from his hands. The long bands of energy rocketed towards the wall, and smashed into one target, denting the wall around the panel.

Liam let his arms drop back to his sides, and grinned.

"Nice. Very destructive." Bobby said, nodding approvingly. "How good is your focus? Can you do smaller blasts, or are you an area of effect kind of guy?"

Liam shrugged, unsure of how Bobby could speak without a mouth. It was s neat trick, he had to admit.

"I dunno. I'm not really practiced with them. I can make smaller blasts if I concentrate, but I have no idea how that'd work out."

Bobby nodded.

"Cool, cool. How about we move onto some hand to hand?"

Liam nodded enthusiastically.

"Finally, something I know I'm good at."

Kitty snorted and took a few steps closer.

"Oooh. Big bad Army Ranger gonna kick the butts of us lowly X-Men?" she asked.

Liam chuckled.

"Probably not. I can tell by the way you move, Logan taught you to fight, so I'm in for a battle, but I know I can at least hold my own." he said.

"Oh really?" she asked. "Ladies?"

All three triplets moved at once, attacking from different angles, at different speeds. Liam only barely managed to stay out of their way, moving just enough to put them in each other's way, disrupting each other's timing and rhythm. The next four minutes (an eternity in a fight) were spent trying to avoid getting hit and (mostly) succeeding. Finally they managed to get into sync, each one attacking at the same time, from two different directions, landing at least three hits for each attempt. They drove him to his knees, and then a swift kick to his stomach doubled him over on the floor, where he yielded by tapping the floor three times. The girls relented immediately, and moved to help him back up to his feet. Bobby approached, laughing.

"I hear Jubilee beat you up too. Do you really make a habit of getting your ass handed to you by girls?"

"Shut up, Bobby." Liam said, rolling his eyes. "She, and they, could kick your ass too."

Bobby laughed harder, and nodded.

"Probably." he agreed.

"Need a break?" Kitty asked. "Before we move on to the battlefield portion."

Liam nodded.

"Bottle of water?" he asked hopefully.

"Done." Bobby said, moving over to the door to the room, where he punched in a string of commands and a six pack of water bottles appeared behind another panel.

Liam shook his head and sighed. What wasn't hidden behind a panel in the room? Bobby brought the bottles over, spraying them with a bluish slush. When he handed out the bottles, the water inside was so cold it burned going down. Liam swallowed half his bottle in the first gulp, wincing as the cold shot up into his brain.

"Ow…that was dumb." He muttered to himself.

The rest of the morning was spent going through various battle sequences. Frontal assaults, flanking maneuvers, sneaking behind enemy lines, snatch and grabs, breaking and entering, insertions into various areas, using various methods…in short, the stuff Liam was really good at. By lunch time, he was actually tired and ready for a break. They released him for lunch, and promised that they'd turn over the tapes of the session to Scott, Emma, and Logan for review. He nodded, thanked them (for kicking his ass, apparently), and went off to find a shower and some food.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six****  
****Forest Surrounding The Xavier School, Westchester, New York****  
****December 21, 1502 hours**

Liam lay in the crook of a tree in the middle of the forest, a hundred yards away from the New X-Men team. Laura, Cessily, Noriko, Santo, Victor, Josh, and Julian. They sat arrayed on a makeshift bench formed by a fallen tree, all dressed in their black and gold battle suits. Small clicks and ticks came from Santo, whose rocky body floated loosely in the red energy that made up his actual form, small pebbles and chips bouncing off the larger stones. Noriko, or "Nori" wore softly humming power regulating gauntlets that glowed softly in the overcast afternoon. Other than those sounds being directed into Liam's earpiece by the directional microphone on the scope of his rifle, and the wind through the wind through the bare branches, the forest was silent.

Liam lay there in the tree, balanced on the branch, covered in a gray, black, and white blanket, and a thick layer of snow. He'd finished his Danger Room session and took a shower, followed by a quick sandwich and bottle of water. He'd gone over the files on the New X-Men team, their powers and weaknesses, personality assessments, medical histories. Then he'd put on some insulated clothes, and collected an M-4 training rifle equipped with an M-203 grenade launcher, and selected a mid range ACOG scope, again marveling at the fact that the X-Men had such a well stocked traditional armory. He'd never seen any of the X-Men (other than the two big guys from the future who were no longer at the school) use firearms of any type, but evidently they had two or three of every kind of weapon imaginable.

Liam stared at the group through his scope, taking note of everyone's position. Laura sat on one end of the fallen tree, staring right at Liam, though she hadn't alerted the rest of the group to his presence. He knew he was downwind of them, but with her enhanced vision and her training, she'd picked him out easily. Santo sat to her left, apparently bored, rearranging the small stones that formed his face, going from the ram headed look he'd worn the previous night, to a wolfish snout, to a nearly demonic look, to a more basic human shape. Next to him, the gold skinned Josh and the reptilian Victor sat, playing a rapid game of rock paper scissors. Noriko and Cessily were next, discussing their plans for Christmas. At the far end of the log, was Julian, moping.

Liam lay there, looking at his students, for that's what they were. The first class of his new career. He had a different group of students for each day of the week, but this was his first. He'd go over things with the New X-Men first, and then the less combat experienced students later in the week. He took a deep breath and settled the red dot of his sights on the Keller's chest. Keller already thought that he was trying to take his place in not only Laura's life, but the Institute as well. Liam might as well let him operate under that assumption, since it'd make him work harder.

Liam inhaled, and as he slowly exhaled, he squeezed the trigger. As soon as he felt the rifle kick against his shoulder, he moved on down the line, firing at each of the students in turn. Of course, Laura moved as he pulled the trigger, effectively dodging the round meant for her, but he figured it didn't really matter. The mere proximity of the CS spray rounds exploding on the other students would be enough to overload her extremely sensitive nose. He watched the students react for an instant before he slipped down off the branch, crunching into the snow with his rifle in his arms. He walked towards the group, trying to keep the smile off his face. He'd been hit with several forms of riot control gas and sprays in his military career, from low grade pepper spray to CS gas, and he knew for a fact that none of them were particularly fun. But watching others get hit with them could be amusing from time to time.

Keller was the first to fall, of course. He fell to the ground, vomiting, his mouth and eyes watering profusely, and his nose spraying snot like a broken faucet. Noriko was bent over, coughing, her eyes watering and nose running. Cessily rubbed Noriko's back, encouraging her to use the snow to help wash the sticky compound off her uniform, though the silver skinned girl didn't seem effected. Neither, for that matter, did Santo, though he was having a hearty laugh at Julian. Josh, who Liam would shortly learn was a healer, had managed to halt the effects of the spray in himself, and was working on augmenting Noriko's own healing factor. Victor was sneezing up a storm, an interesting sight for a kid who looked more like a gecko than a human. Laura, for her part, was busy trying to keep her distance from the others, though her eyes were watering profusely, and her nose was red.

As Liam approached, he caught a whiff of the spray, and took a deep breath. He'd become mostly immune to the effects of CS, though his eyes were starting to tear up. Cessily shot him a dirty look, and went on helping Noriko wash her uniform off. Liam stepped up near the group, and leaned against a tree, his rifle cradled in his arms. Keller still knelt on the ground, dry heaving loudly. After a few minutes, Liam walked over and hauled the younger mutant up by the back of his uniform's collar, setting him on the log.

"Alright, Hellion. Straighten up." He said, returning to his leaning post. "Now, why did I do this? Anyone?"

"Because you're an asshole looking to be electrocuted?" Noriko managed to choke out, her gauntlets humming louder now.

"Nori, easy." Cessily muttered, though her expression towards Liam didn't soften.

"Not quite." Liam said.

Santo shot a rocky hand into the air.

"Rockslide." Liam said, pointing with an extended hand, all four fingers and his thumb extended and joined in what was affectionately known as the "Drill Sergeant Hand".

"Because you're tapping that," he said, chucking a thumb in Laura's direction, which earned him a swipe from Cessily's razor sharp fingers. "And you wanted to see Julian in a little more pain?"

Liam had to suppress a smile.

"No. Good answer, but no." he said.

Santo's hand shot up again.

"Rockslide."

"Because it was hilarious? And you're tapping that." he said, earning him a medium sized rock skipped off the top of his head by Laura, who's eyes had stopped watering.

"Again, good answer, but no."

"Shut up, Vaccaro. I'll-" Keller said, gagging again. "Kick your ass."

Liam fired another round at Keller without moving, and it hit his knee, exploding another dose of CS spray into Keller's face. The younger man coughed and his nose started pouring again.

"No you won't. But with that said, shut up, Santo, or I send a concussion grenade into you with this thing, and the rest of the team gets to spend the rest of their afternoon piecing you back together." Liam said.

Santo raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay. I just want to be clear on the 'you're tapping that' issue." he said, smirking. "I'll shut up."

"About time." Victor muttered.

"Good. Now, Laura, why don't you help me educate the rest of the class? Why did I shoot you?" Liam asked.

Laura took a step closer to the group, but made sure to stand upwind of Keller and the others.

"Situational awareness." she said.

"Right. You have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. If you aren't, you get dead. Quick, fast, and in a hurry." Liam said. "Also, if you're not aware of your surroundings, the enemy can sneak up on you. You don't have to be super paranoid at all times, but you need to know what's going on around you."

He paused, and sighed.

"Like now. While you were all listening to me, I had him," Liam said, pointing behind them. "Sneak up behind you."

The whole group, except for Laura, of course, turned to glance behind them. As they did, Liam fired another round, hitting Cessily in the side of the head.

"OW!" she yelped, immediately turning into a flowing liquid form of herself, and slamming Liam into the tree.

Liam squirmed against the cold metal pressing up against every inch of his skin from the chest down, as Cessily sneered in his face, her body gone, but her head and neck remaining. He managed to open the battery casing for his sight, ejecting a nine volt battery into her metallic body. The instant the ends of the battery touched her metallic skin, she jerked away in surprise, her humanoid form returning, though her skin spiked and wavered, as if being hit with sonic waves. After a few moments of struggling, she managed to spit the battery out of her mouth.

"You son of a bitch! You knew that would happen!" she cried.

Liam nodded.

"Yup. And that's the last time any of you get to address me as anything other than Sergeant in this class." he said, his face impassive. "Right now, I have a way of counteracting all your powers on me. And without your powers, you're no match for me, except for maybe Laura."

They gave him a long silence, except for the sniffling.

"I don't tell you this to scare you…well, yes to scare you, but also to let you know that no matter how smart you think you are, how far ahead you've thought, or how planned out you have things, I'm smarter. I'm stronger than most of you, and faster than some. And I guarantee I'm more ruthless than all of you put together." he said. "I don't like to let that part of me out, but if it served my purposes, I'd sacrifice each and every one of you, along with all the little kiddies in the school."

He neglected to mention that the only way in which that particular scenario would serve his purposes would be to save even more lives, but not telling the whole truth and lying were two different things.

"With all that said, you should also know that as long as you're my students, as long as you're under my care, I'll do everything in my power to protect you. To keep you safe. To keep you alive. Including sacrificing my own life." Liam said, which got him several confused looks. "I'm here to train you to become better fighters. Better soldiers. Better survivors. Unfortunately, the only way I know to do that is to make life unbearably hard on you."

"Also unfortunately, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. The war between the X-Men and the rest of the world is escalating, and it's a war you aren't trained for."

"What do you mean the war? There's no war. There's differences and bigots and violence, but war? I don't think so." Victor said, speaking for the first time Liam had heard, his voice raspy.

"Oh yeah? Tell that to the Sentinels. Or the US Government. Or the Friends of Humanity."

Noriko laughed, a short chirping sound.

"The F.O.H.? Seriously? Those guys are ancient. They're probably all in nursing homes by now." she chuckled.

"It's true, they were most active in the early nineties. But where do you think those post eighties radical punks with all their rage and anger went? They got jobs. They got educations. They got money and they got smart. And then they started up more subtle groups. Groups that couldn't be traced to them. Groups whose motivation, at least publicly, was a religious crusade. Groups like the Purifiers. Because people can wrap their heads around that."

"People can look at any atrocity committed in the name of God, no matter how terrible, and say 'I don't agree, but I understand. It's freedom of religion. We can't stop them'. And so they don't even try. The world watches us fight a war for our very existence, and we're losing, and they think we're the bad guys just because we're different. You say there's not a war going on? Tell that to the Purifier who launched an RPG into a school bus. Tell that to the rest of them who came in afterwards to mop up the mess with more bullets. Tell that to William Stryker."

Liam glanced at Josh, and then looked on down the line. Nobody spoke.

"Look, I know it's uncool of me to bring it up. I wasn't there, I didn't know them, and I didn't lose the friends that you did. But I have lost friends in war. I've lost family. I've fought and cried and bled for people I've never met, just because they were 'my people', and then came home to those same people, who spit on me for keeping them safe. People who hate me because of the uniform I wore. People who know nothing of what happens in war, but who judge me for what others did. I don't even have to be a mutant for them to hate me."

Liam paused, collecting his thoughts. He hadn't meant the class to turn into a ranting session for him. He leaned his rifle against a tree, and reached up to Laura's waist. He pressed circular X buckle, and it clicked, releasing the belt. It fell.

"X-Man." he said.

Next he pressed the large buckle on Santo's waist. It also fell.

"X-Man."

He moved down the line, releasing each of the New X-Men's belts one by one, letting them fall to the snow covered ground, repeating the name. He released Julian's belt last, but kept it in his hands, running it through his fingers. He presented the buckle, a black X bisecting a black circle on a red field, to the group.

"You will face the same thing. You'll save people, just to have them turn on you because you're X-Men. The previous generation has left some very big shoes to fill, with their no kill policies, and always being in the limelight whether they want it or not. The X-Men are very public figures, and so you will always be watched, criticized for your actions or failures to act. But their war is not your war. Their war was one of public relations, of equal rights, of an ideal. A dream. A beautiful dream, to be sure, which some very good people have given their lives for, but it's not your war. Yours is one of survival."

Liam sighed, tiredly, tossing the belt to the ground. He'd tired of war, and for a little while, he'd convinced himself that he was coming to the Xavier Institute to teach. To share his experience and keep some people safe, if he could. But that's not what he did. He'd never been that guy. Liam was an Army Ranger. Rangers didn't teach people. They built soldiers. They built survivors. They stripped already strong people down to blank slates, and then rebuilt them, forging stronger links, stronger materials. They created the hardest survivors in the world, and they did it the hard way.

"Your war is one of survival, but you also must be aware of the other aspects. Situational awareness. Right now, someone is carrying a bullet, a grenade, a knife, a tank, with your name on it. The trick is to die of old age before you give them a reason to use it." he said. "You have to be aware of not just your own actions, but also the actions of those around you. A young boy is born a mutant, and so his father, William Stryker, who spent his life seeing mutants as lesser beings, to be caged, experimented on, and disposed of like so much meat, he snaps. Sets off on a holy quest to cleanse the world of the mutant infestation."

"Be aware. Be calm. Be present. Right now. Know what's going on." Liam said. "Be…aware."

He straightened up, and clapped his hands together.

"Alright. Grab your gear." he said, nodding to the belts.

The class did as they were told, silently.

"On the command of dismissed, you'll return to the mansion, shower, get that spray off of you. Use bar soap. It helps." he said. "Then you'll get to whatever classes or activities you have planned next. Next meeting of this class is tonight, at twenty one hundred hours, in the gym. Be ready for a workout. Dress accordingly. Clear?"

A quiet "Yes, sir." was the response from each of the New X-Men.

"Don't call me, sir. I work for a living. You call me Sergeant or Sarge in this class. Clear?"

"Yes, Sergeant." came the reply, a little louder, but still subdued.

"Good. Dismissed." he said, and they all moved off towards the mansion.

Liam watched them go, and then wrapped his rifle in the blanket so as not to scare anyone when he carried it into the mansion. He moved towards the school, and heard the crunch of footsteps behind him. With one fluid motion, he dropped the rifle and had the Taser he'd talked Scott into letting him carry pointed at the source of the footsteps. Logan moved slowly into view, and Liam let out a sigh of relief.

"Yer jumpy, kid."

"Yeah, well, living with superheroes is bound to make anyone nervous." Liam shrugged, reholstering the weapon. "What's up?"

"Caught your class."

"I figured you might."

"Interesting stuff."

"Has to be. Otherwise they won't pay attention."

Logan nodded, shrugging.

"You can't turn them into your own personal army. Scott won't allow it."

Liam turned and looked back at the class, stepping out into the clearing that marked the edge of the campus. Laura had turned back to look at Liam and Logan. Liam figured she was probably listening.

"I'm not trying to. I don't want an army. I don't wanna be in that business anymore." he said, still looking at Laura. "But it's what they need to be."

Logan took a deep breath.

"I know."

Liam turned back to face Logan.

"They need to be trained like us, to survive what's coming, much less make any headway in this world."

"I know, kid. I know." the older man said. "Come on. Enough heavy thinkin' fer today. Too much of that shit is bad for the brain, ya know? Lemme buy ya a drink."

Liam chuckled.

"Alright. Fair enough." he said. "Where are we headed?"

"The greenhouse."

"Is that a bar?" Liam asked.

"Nope. It's the greenhouse. 'Ro makes some of the meanest moonshine you'll ever taste." Logan said, grinning. "But don't tell Scott. I'd hate ta sully her reputation."


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven****  
****Gymnasium, The Xavier School, Westchester, New York****  
****December 21, 2055 hours**

Liam sat on the floor of the dimly lit gym, his legs together, pulling on his toes. He felt his hamstrings stretching, and his lower back ached in protest. He kept up the pressure until he felt his muscles relax. As he stood up, the doors at the far end swung open, admitting his class.

Except for Julian.

They walked towards him, dressed in simple workout clothes. Without instruction, they came and stood in front of him, lined up, hands clasped in front of them.

"You seem to be missing someone."

"Uh, yeah. Julian said…um…well-" Victor began.

"Come on, princess. The longer you stammer, the longer this takes." Liam said.

"He said to tell you that he's not coming to your stupid class as long as you think you're actually in charge of the team."

Liam nodded slowly.

"Okay. Is that what you think? That I'm here to take over the team?" Liam asked. "Any of you? Show of hands, who thinks I'm here to take over?"

Slowly, Josh, Victor, and Noriko raised their hands.

"Why?"

"Well, you're here. And in charge, obviously. That used to be Julian's job." Josh said. "The instructors have given us orders to follow your orders as we would theirs. If you're not the new field leader, why would they do that?"

Liam shook his head.

"I'm not here to take over. I'm here to make you better at what you do, and to prepare you for what you might need to do." he said. "I don't wanna be your boss. Not really. I just want to show you how to be as strong as you need to be. Everybody line up. Back to back. Josh and Vic. Laura and Nori. Santo, I'll work with you. Cessily, over to the side. I want you to pair up with the first person that drops."

They paired up as instructed, and Liam went over to the wall where the medicine balls were kept, and removed three ten pound balls. He carried one in each hand and rolled the third with his foot.

"Santo, do me a favor and drop some of those rocks. I need you about my height. Maybe a little bigger." Liam said.

Santo scratched his head, but shrugged and complied, rearranging the rocks that made up his form, carefully placing the stones in a pile at the far edge of the training floor. He shrank in size with the removal of each stone, and his misty body became more compact, with less space between the individual stones that made up his body. He rejoined the group, standing only a few inches taller than Liam, and backed up to the shorter mutant.

"Good. Now, each pair takes a ball, and we pass it back and forth until one of us is tired enough to drop the ball." Liam said, tossing a ball to Nori, and one to Josh. "Nice and easy."

He picked up the ball, and turned at the waist, handing it to Santo. Santo took it, rotated at the waist, and handed it back.

"Pretty simple, until you get to the complicated part. Who here knows about in cadence exercise?" he asked, as the other New X-Men began passing their medicine balls back and forth.

"We all do." Laura said. "Logan."

Liam nodded, continuing the motion, handing the ball to Santo, accepting it back.

"Good. That'll make this so much easier." He said, increasing the speed of his movements just a little. "In cadence……exercise!"

"One…two…three…" he said, slowly, one coming as he handed the ball off, two as he accepted it back, three as he handed it off again.

"ONE!" The entire group said loudly, as they accepted the ball for the second time.

"One...two…three…"

"TWO!"

Every two passes of the ball counted as one repetition. After four repetitions, Liam stopped counting, but the group stayed in sync. Cessily tapped her foot in the four count rhythm, seemingly out of habit.

"FIVE!"

"SIX!"

"SEVEN!"

Liam smiled tightly as he started to sweat. It felt good to get his muscles working again, and militarily disciplined exercise was the best way to do that. The slap of muscle against muscle, the weight of the medicine ball in his hands, the soothing, Zen-like rhythm of everyone moving in sync. This was Liam's bliss.

"So guys…" he began.

"TEN!"

"What do you think?"

"ELEVEN!"

"Ten pound ball..."

"TWELVE!"

"Four count exercise…"

"THIRTEEN!"

"How long…"

"FOURTEEN!"

"Can we go…"

"FIFTEEN!"

"Before someone drops?"

"SIXTEEN!"

"Thirty." said Victor, his golden reptilian eyes staring at Liam as he twisted back and forth.

"SEVENTEEN!"

"What? Tired already?"

"EIGHTEEN!"

"Reptile metabolism. Don't use oxygen as well as humans. Can't regulate body temp."

"NINTEEN!"

Liam nodded during the next two passes.

"Okay. When you drop the ball, you start doing pushups."

"TWO ONE!"

"Still in cadence. Until you can't anymore. That goes for everybody."

"TWO TWO!"

"That's clear." Victor said, his lips pulling back from his lips with the effort, revealing razor sharp fangs.

"TWO THREE!"

They kept on going, the room slowly heating up, smelling of sweat and pain. Sure enough, at thirty seven, Victor dropped the ball. He moved to the side and began doing pushups, and Cessily backed up to Josh, taking Victor's place. Victor resumed his movements, in sync with the rest of the group. Victor moved a little slower than the rest did, his movements sluggish where theirs were still relatively crisp, but he managed to keep pace. Liam didn't notice really. His brain had nearly shut down, the only thing in his whole world, the movement. The work. The ache. The weight of the ball in his hands. The smell of sweat. The sound of pained gasps and grunts.

As they passed forty five, Noriko dropped her medicine ball. Liam came back to himself briefly.

"FOUR SIX!"

"Laura, you push too. Then recover when one of them drops." Liam said, nodding to Josh and Cessily.

Laura obeyed, and she and Noriko both dropped to the floor, pushing. Noriko and Victor had slowed down, and were taking occasional breaks, just holding the up pushup position and resting. Liam dropped back beneath the surface of his mind, going blank again. As they passed fifty two Cessily dropped her ball.

"Laura, recover. Cessily, push." Liam grunted, now pouring sweat, his muscles burning.

Laura leapt up, going back to back with Josh, and Cessily took her place. Victor and Noriko were both holding the up position, moving at half speed, doing one pushup for every two passes. Santo didn't seem to be slowing down at all, or to tire even a little. Liam closed his eyes, not having to look to exercise.

"FIVE THREE!"

"How are ya, Santo?"

"Good."

"FIVE FOUR!"

"No muscles to wear out. Psionic being, so…"

"FIVE FIVE!"

"You have to tire sometime."

"Nah, not so much."

"Five Six." the calls were coming softer now, with grunts and groans of pain.

"Great. I had to pick the superman to work with." Liam grunted. "No limits?"

"Well, the strength of my rocks."

"Five Seven."

"If I try to move something and the force needed is greater than that of the shatter point…"

"Five Eight."

"Of my rocks, I just kinda break against it."

Liam nodded.

"Oh. Good to know."

"Five Nine."

"What about you, Josh? Not tired."

"Healing powers."

"Six Zero."

Cessily, Noriko, and Victor were all just holding the up position, not even trying to push, their brows furrowed in pain, arms shaking, bodies sagging.

"Six one."

"No more powers, if you can control it."

Josh nodded, and immediately slowed. Liam opened his eyes, and could tell that the work was taking an increasingly speedy toll on him.

"Six two."

"Six three."

On sixty four, Josh dropped the ball. He moved away from Santo and Liam, as did Laura, and they both dropped to the floor to do pushups.

"Don't. Everybody but Santo, recover. Rest. Drink water." Liam said, though his muscles were screaming at him, his lungs aching for air, his pulse pounding in his head.

He and Santo continued on as the others collapsed to the ground. Laura went to get water for the rest of them, and Josh began the healing process. He first healed himself, and then moved on to his fellow metallic mutant, healing Cessily.

Liam kept going, his body now in open revolt against him, his fingers going numb, his knees shaky. At seventy seven he finally dropped the ball, and collapsed to his knees, his arms completely numb, his entire torso in agony. He panted with the others, as Santo came and sat down on the mat next to his teammates. Laura handed water bottles to each of them in turn, and sat down herself. After several long minutes of rest, when they mostly had their breathing under control, and could move their fingers, they sat silently in a circle on the mat.

"So…how did I outlast you? How did I go so long without a healing factor or being a freakin' psionic being?" he asked, breathlessly, giving Santo a dirty look.

The rocky mutant just grinned.

"You're stronger." Josh suggested.

"Have more endurance." Noriko said.

"You're crazy in the brain?" Cessily offered hopefully.

"Exactly right." Liam said, nodding to her.

"What do you mean?" Victor asked.

"You think I'm not hurting? That I don't feel pain? All bullshit." he said. "I'm just as hurt as any of you. I'm just too stupid to realize it. You think the pain doesn't become my whole world? It does. And there's my strength."

Only Laura looked like she understood.

"He means that he's using the pain to fuel himself."

Liam nodded.

"Don't ignore the pain. Don't try to push through it. Embrace it. Revel in it. Let it burn hotter and brighter than ever before. Admit to yourself that it hurts, and then step aside. Let the pain course through you, and let that pain piss you right the fuck off. The madder you get, the more it hurts, the longer you can go. That's why I can go longer than you guys." he said. "If you can do that, and not all people can, your limits disappear. There's no end to what you can do, if you're motivated the right way. Let that pain be your motivator. Let it drive you to do more."

He glanced around the group.

"Got it?"

They nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Be a psionic being, or have a healing factor, or be stupid. Got it." Victor said, giving a thumbs up.

Liam grinned.

"Alright, chuckle head. You guys go get cleaned up. Shower, and get some rest. Class tomorrow is after lunch on the front lawn."

The team got up slowly, moving to leave the room.

"Oh, and tell Julian, when you see him, that I wanna talk to him."

As the doors to the gym swung closed, he fell back onto his back, lying on the mat for the next five minutes.

"Ow." he muttered, before getting up to go shower.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

**The Bar With No Name, Lenox and East 34****th**** Street, Brooklyn, New York**

**December 22, 2228 hours**

Liam sat at his booth in the back of the smoke filled bar, a cigarette dangling unlit from his lips. He wore jeans, a white t-shirt, and his old Army ACU jacket with the sleeves rolled up and folded over. On the table in front of him was an unmarked bottle of amber colored liquid and a glass half filled with ice and the same liquid. He sat there watching the crowd, waiting on Julian Keller. He'd left a message on the kid's cell.

"I know you don't wanna hear anything I've got to say, but you need to be at the bar on the corner of Lenox and East 34th street in Brooklyn at ten thirty. Otherwise you can consider yourself expelled. Oh, and wear something flashy. Something that will attract attention."

At precisely ten thirty, Liam saw Julian walk through the door, the bouncer at the door pointing a meaty finger in Liam's direction. The kid hadn't disappointed in the fashion department. He wore a pair of black sharkskin pants, with a bright red t-shirt that was nearly torn to shreds, and a white leather jacket that was covered in silver metallic studs. Black nail polish and eyeliner completed the "look". Liam watched as Julian made his way over to the table.

"Well?" Julian said, shrugging. "I'm here. Now what?"

Liam pointed at the seat across from him.

"Sit down." he said, taking a sip of his drink. "Want to order something?"

"I'm not thirsty."

"Come on. Have something. It always pays to stay hydrated." Liam said, waving the waitress over.

The petite blonde woman with far too many tattoos for her small frame came over, smiling at Julian.

"What can I get for ya, tall, dark, and mysterious?" she asked.

Julian shrugged impatiently as he sat down.

"Hell, I don't know. Do you have any decent scotch in this place?"

"How about a Glenfiddich 40 year single malt?"

A surprised look passed over Julian's face.

"Uh, yeah. That sounds great."

"Bring him a double, Angie. We may be a bit."

"Sure thing, Liam." she said, off to get Julian's drink.

Julian turned back to the older man.

"So why am I here? Are you going to expel me?"

Liam shrugged.

"That depends. Are you going to start cooperating and following my orders in class?"

"Who gave you the right to give us orders anyway? You're not one of us."

Angie the waitress returned with the scotch Julian ordered, and he took a long sip. Liam pulled the cigarette from his mouth and set it down in the ashtray on the table.

"No, I'm not. I'm the guy trying to help you. That's all I've ever wanted to do, is help you and your team learn things outside your normal experience so that you're better prepared for what might come at you." Liam said. "The war is coming, and you're not ready. You're all about fighting off giant robots, supervillains, and mutants of every description, but what about a suicide bomber? Landmines? People who don't wear costumes or uniforms or have club tattoos. If I put you in the middle of the woods, with no powers, would you be able to survive until you made it to civilization?"

Julian was silent for a moment.

"That's why I'm here. I'm not here to take your job, Keller. I don't want your job. I just wanna help. If that's too big of a problem for you, then I'll find someone to replace you and you can be on your merry way." Liam said, taking a long drink. "Can you handle it?"

Julian frowned at him.

"I can handle anything."

Liam nodded.

"Good. Now comes the hard part. Laura."

Julian fairly sneered.

"No. You and I aren't going to talk about this."

"You and me, we've got a problem here. One that has to be dealt with before we can move on." Liam said. "You and her were split up before I came into her life, right? I have nothing to do with the two of you, just like you have nothing to do with the two of us. Whatever your issues are with her, you need to work them out with her. Not me. As far as your problems with her go, I don't care. The only time I'll get involved is when your problems become my problems. Don't make them my problems, huh?"

"You are my problem, though, asshole. You're in her life!" Julian hissed. "You're in the way of my getting her back! You're the reason!"

Liam sighed and took another drink.

"Look, if she wants to give you another chance, then that's her choice. I don't even know what she and I have, to be honest. What we are. I like her, and I think she likes me, but it's not love. Not yet, anyway. Maybe eventually, but right now we're having fun. Enjoying life." Liam said. "If you hurt her, yeah, I'm gonna be pissed, because she's my friend, and I don't put up with people hurting my friends. But if she chooses you, I won't stand in the way of that. I want her happy, and right now I make her happy. If you become what makes her happy, so be it. Fair enough?"

Julian's frown didn't fade as he took another long drink.

"Fine. I won't stop trying to get her back, though. And you can't stop me."

Liam shrugged.

"I wouldn't expect you to. Just don't be such an goddamned cock monger about it." he said. "You're really showing your ass lately, and it's just making you look stupid."

A contemplative look crossed his face.

"Although, it's making Laura extra pissed, which makes the sex really really great. I mean the things she does with her-"

"No! No no no. You don't get to tell me this." Julian interrupted.

"Fair enough. But do you at least see my point? Stop being such a fucking asshole to her. Because you're about to make yourself my problem, and I'm gonna stop being nice."

Julian sighed and nodded taking another sip of his drink. He was silent for a long moment.

"Good scotch." he said, smiling lightly.

Liam nodded, grinning.

"That's why I love this place. Best drinks in town."

"How do you know? You haven't been here long enough to find out."

"I wasn't always in LA. I actually lived here for a year after I got out of the Army. Before I went out west."

"Why'd you move?"

"Competition. Private investigators are a dime a dozen here in New York. I mean, you can't turn the corner in this town without stepping on three of them trying to live out their detective novel dreams." Liam said, rolling his eyes. "In LA it's not so crowded. And my style works much better out there than it does here. Here everybody thinks you're trying to put one over on them, and so when you actually are trying, it makes it so much more complicated."

Julian smirked, and took another drink, setting his glass down on the table.

"So what part of LA did you live in?"

Liam was about to answer, when he saw the door to the bar open up, admitting three very large, very angry looking men. Looking like they were trying to pull some sort of redneck chic look, they wore tight, faded, embroidered jeans with rhinestone designs, flat toed Italian boots, and long sleeved shirts tucked in, but unbuttoned too far down their shaved chests. Felt cowboy hats with far too many peacock feathers sat atop their heads, and Liam had to glance away to keep from laughing. As he did, though, he caught sight of the last man's throat, which featured the tattooed letters DTA. Liam sighed and finished his drink.

"I'll tell you on the way home. Come on. It's time to go."

Julian looked confused, but swished down the rest of his scotch, and set the empty glass on the table.

"What's the deal? Trouble?"

Liam just nodded for the door. Julian went ahead of him, shouldering his way through the crowd as Liam dropped a fifty dollar bill on the table. He followed Julian out the door, and they turned right, headed back up 34th towards Linden, across which Liam's Mazda RX-8 was parked. His old Chevy Suburban had been trashed back in LA, and so Scott had given him one of the Institute's fleet of vehicles until he decided what he wanted the school to replace his Suburban with. As they walked quickly down the street, Liam spoke softly.

"Those guys who just came in are part of a terrorist group that targets American soldiers. Homegrown bastards, too." He said. "Ever seen the MadTV skit about Al Jazeera where everybody starts and ends every sentence with 'Death to America'?"

Julian nodded.

"Sure."

"Some smart assed college students started the group as a joke. Putting up fake YouTube videos, papering the campus with anti-American fliers and such. Harmless fun, right? Then they got hooked up with some actual terrorists from the Egyptian group Al Jihad. Thought that because they weren't Al Qaeda they were relatively harmless." Liam said, still walking. "Al Jihad is Al Qaeda's little brother. The college students got co-opted or were threatened into cooperating, and then they were turned against US soldiers here in the states. Suicide bombings, shootings, kidnappings. They targeted US soldiers and their families. Nobody else. They're the ones who funded the bastards I fought in South America."

They paused at Linden, waiting for a break in the traffic, and then darted across the street. Liam took a half second to glance over his shoulder, and found the three men following them, particularly unpleasant smiles on their faces.

"Now the group recruits like a gang. Outside the US, they're a terrorist organization, and here they're even worse. Death to America. The gang's primary goal isn't to make money, or do drugs, or gain power. It's simply to kill any American soldier they come across. They're not too crazy about mutants either. It's best that we make it to the car before they catch up to us."

Julian glanced back, and snorted.

"We could take them." he said, but kept walking.

"It's not them that I'm worried about." Liam said. "It's the other three or four that they're herding us towards."

As if on cue, two men stepped out of an alley way, blocking Liam and Julian's path. Both of them wore the same DTA tattoo on their throats.

"Well, well, well. Looks like soldier boy got himself some education from our hermanos down south." The shorter Hispanic man said. "Too bad they couldn't finish the job and kill his ass too."

The taller of the two chuckled as the three from the bar caught up, a little winded from the jog.

"Come on, boys. Into the alley. Let's not scare the normal people, huh?" said the short man, evidently the leader. "Come in and take what's coming like men. If you ask nice, we might even make it quick."

Liam sighed, and motioned for Julian to move into the alley.

"Are you kidding? We can totally take them! All of them!" Julian asked incredulously. "Do you sorry fucks have any idea who we are?"

Liam caught Julian by the arm, and gave him a look that told him to shut up.

"They might make it quick. Just go." he said calmly.

Julian shook his head, but walked into the alleyway between the buildings, and Liam followed him in. The five gang members closed in around them, forcing them towards the large opening between the four buildings that stood back to back. As they stepped into the dimly lit courtyard, Liam saw two more gang members standing against the far wall, blocking the other alley out of the courtyard.

"So, Ranger Boy. What's it going to be? You want us to beat you to death? Stab you? Shoot you? Same time or one at a time? We can be accommodating, as long as you do something for us first." said the leader. "All you gotta do is tell us what we wanna hear, and we'll do you however you want. Just renounce the US government, the Army, and tell us we're right."

Liam snorted.

"Not gonna happen, jefe."

The short man smiled, an shrugged.

"Have it your way. Poco?" he nodded towards Liam, and the largest man in the group moved forward, fists raised.

He took two surprisingly fast swings at Liam's head, both of which Liam dodged. A quick punch to the man's throat stopped him mid-step. He reached up with both hands to grasp his throat, and Liam leapt forward, dropkicking the man square in the chest. He slammed into the brick wall, his head making a sickening squelching sound, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Ooooh! Lookie here, boys. We've got ourselves a fighter. Ranger Boy ain't gonna put up with our shit." the leader said. "I guess we'd better run away."

The group laughed, all six men closing in on Liam and Julian. The two X-Men backed up, standing back to back.

"So…this was your plan?" Julian asked.

"Not so much a plan, per se. More of a wait and see kind of thing."

"So what do you see?"

"We're neck deep in trouble but waist deep in solutions."

"Wonderful. First solution?"

"Don't get dead?"

One of the men lunged forward, a knife in his hand. He swung it at Liam, who trapped his arm, and punched the inner edge of his elbow, dislocating his forearm. At the same time, he heard Julian scuffling with someone, and heard a yelp of pain and a thud.

"You good?" Liam asked, not taking his eyes off the two men in front of him.

"Yeah. Why aren't we using our powers?"

"Fuck." Liam muttered.

"Oh, so you boys are mutants too, huh? That just make this so much better. Lemme guess, you two are a couple, too, huh? Got kicked out of the Army for all the ass fucking?" the leader nearly crowed. "This is too perfect."

"Tactical advantage. Don't tell your enemy what your assets are until you have to." Liam muttered over his shoulder.

"Good topic for your next class." Julian chuckled back. "No reason to hold back now, then, right?

"Sure. Have at it." Liam said.

He saw a flash of green light from behind him, and heard two quick thuds across the courtyard. Julian had evidently tossed his opponents into the far building. They weren't moving.

"You fucks wanna see what I can do?" Liam asked, gathering two fistfuls of energy.

The leader and his remaining partner circled slowly, as the energy licked its way up Liam's arms, moving, writhing, seething. Liam tossed one of the energy blasts at the partner, and he flew off his feet to smash into the nearest trashcan. The leader of the group reached behind him, and as soon as Liam saw the edge of the pistol coming around his body, he released the other handful of energy, blowing the man's hand clean off. He screamed, but only for a moment, as Liam's hands found his throat.

"Shut up, you piece of shit!" Liam hissed, driving the man into the wall.

Liam let go of the man's throat just long enough to gather a small bit of energy in his hand, and shove it into the man's mouth, wedging it open.

"Let's see what happens when I force this down your throat, and detonate it in your chest, huh? Or I could just detonate it now, and blow the top of your head off. It's up to you." Liam snarled, as tears streamed down the man's face.

"Liam. Don't." Julian said.

"And why shouldn't I?" Liam asked, not looking away.

"Because you're an X-Man. It took one of my friends dying before my eyes to make me realize it, but X-Men don't kill. Ever."

Liam sighed, and slowly let the man loose, withdrawing his energy. He did, however, lay a haymaker punch on the side of the man's face, sending him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.

"We should kill them." he said.

"I know. But we're better than them."

"Alright."

"We are, Liam."

"Fine. Let's go home."

Liam led the way out of the alley, dialing 911 on his phone as he walked. He gave the location of the fight and the condition of the gang members as he got into the car, Julian climbing in beside him.

"So…do you always get into fights when you go drinking?" Julian asked.

"Oddly enough, yeah." Liam chuckled. "But tonight I was drinking sweet tea. I used to have an alcohol problem, so now I stick to the less harsh stuff."

"You mean we just got into that fight, and you were stone cold sober?" Julian asked. "Jeez. I'm buzzing like a hornet. I'm surprised I can even stand up."

"Lightweight." Liam said, as he pulled away from the curb.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine  
Xavier School for Gifted Children, Westchester, New York  
Kitchen**

**December 23, 0915 hours**

**Liam sat at the relatively small kitchen table, reading the large color comics section of the Sunday paper, a half full bottle of Dr Pepper and a plate with a half eaten sesame seed bagel in front of him. The bagel was toasted, still hot, melting the thin layer of cream cheese on it, its smell filling the large room. Most of the students and instructors ate in the formal dining room, but Liam had been out jogging during the normal breakfast hours, and so he just made his food and ate in the kitchen. He chuckled at the Haggar the Horrible strip and took another bite as Scott and Emma walked into the room. As usual, they made him feel underdressed. Scott wore khakis and a long sleeved blue polo shirt. He looked freshly pressed, as if perhaps he kept his entire wardrobe (including his hair) in preselected outfits. Emma looked comfortable, though, in white slacks and a fluffy white sweater. They gave off a sort of Eddie Bauer Winter Catalog feeling. **

**"Morning, boss. Boss-ette. How are you?" he asked, around his food. **

**Scott walked over to the coffee maker, pouring himself and Emma each a cup of coffee. Liam couldn't help but notice that he added two sugars to one cup, along with a healthy dose of cream, and just one sugar to the other. So he knew how she took her coffee. Logan had mentioned that they were an item, but Liam wondered to himself if maybe there wasn't more to their relationship than just being co-headmasters who'd hooked up. Coffee preference was something a little more intimate. It didn't matter to him, but it was a piece of information that was good to have. **

**"Very well, thank you, Liam." Emma said, her voice a little tense. **

**"Uh-oh. That bad, huh? I'm not liking that tone of voice. That's not a happy voice." he said, folding the paper closed. "Whatever I thought, I didn't mean it." **

**Scott gave him a tight smile as the two of them sat down across the table from him. He was radiating tension. **

**"I'm really not liking this. Is this where you tell me that I'm fired and you're going to have to disintegrate me?" Liam asked. **

**"Not exactly, my boy." Emma said, raising a slightly amused eyebrow. **

**"That's better." Liam said, nodding. "What's the bad news? Who died?" **

**"Who said anything about bad news?" Scott asked, taking a sip of his coffee. **

**"Come on, boss. For someone so involved with a telepath, and who keeps his eyes covered, you're not very good at hiding your feelings." Liam said. "It's written all over your overly stoic face."**

**Emma tried to hide a smirking smile. Scott gave Liam an unamused look. **

**"Alright. The bad news, then." Scott said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "We've made a decision that involves you and your status here."**

**Liam nodded. **

**"Okay. What's the verdict?"**

**"You can stay, but you won't be an X-Man. At least not yet." Scott said. "You're still too uncontrolled with your powers. You need precision control over your powers. We can't afford to have a potentially unstable mutant on the team." **

**Liam was silent for a long moment, mulling over the information. It wasn't nearly as bad as he was expecting. **

**"Fair enough. So where do I fit in?" he asked. **

**"That's just it. You're an instructor here, but you're also in need of training. It makes you problematic." Emma said. **

**"Not the first time I've heard that, Boss-ette." **

**Scott chuckled. **

**"Even so, we can't exactly find what category you should be put into. So for now, you'll be on the New X-Men team. Here, you're an instructor, but in the field, you report to Julian." he said. **

**Liam shrugged. **

**"Alright. How does the chain of command work?" he asked. **

**"What do you mean?" Scott asked. **

**"I've got no problem following Keller. He's got a decent head on his shoulders, even if he is an impulsive, cocky bastard. Give him some time to cool his jets, let him get knocked down a few times to prove that he isn't invulnerable, and he's going to make an excellent leader." Liam said, taking a drink of his soda. "With that said, I've seen more combat. Been at it a lot longer than he has. A lot longer than some of your X-Men have. If I see something wrong, if he makes a call that's gonna get someone killed, do I have the authority to make it right?"**

**"Of course." Scott said, nodding. **

**"Everyone does." Emma agreed. **

**Liam nodded. **

**"Alright then. Good. Anything else?" he asked. **

**"You're okay with this?" Scott asked. "You're not upset about being put on what amounts to the second string?"**

**Liam laughed.**

**"Come on, boss. My ego isn't that big." Liam said. "Is that normally a problem?"**

**Scott shrugged. **

**"Occasionally we have students who are…displeased, at the prospect of not making the X-Men's main team." Emma said. "After all, we are the most visible mutants in the world, only occasionally eclipsed by our enemies. As far as adventuring teams go, we're probably only marginally less known than the Avengers." **

**Liam nodded in agreement. **

**"Yeah. I get that. Being an X-Man is a big deal." he mused. "How bad has it gotten? With the displeased students, I mean."**

**Scott and Emma exchanged a look. **

**"Um…well, we've had to replace entire wings of the school. Multiple times." he said. **

**Liam raised his eyebrows in surprise. **

**"Wow. Well, you don't have to worry about that with me. I may not be able to micromanage my powers yet, but I'm not going to cause any construction issues. At least, none that I can't fix myself." He said. "I may have been known to put holes in the sheetrock, but it's always from fists. And occasionally from tossing someone through a wall." **

**Scott grinned. **

**"Oh, well then you'll fit right in. We've been dealing with that from Logan for years." he chuckled. "You're really okay with this?"**

**Liam nodded. **

**"Yeah. I mean, it'd be an ego boost to just walk onto the X-Men, but I get it. I've had to work for everything I've ever gotten, every shred of respect, every promotion. Everything. This is just one more thing to work for." he said. **

**Scott glanced at Emma, as if for verification. She squinted at Liam, and he tried to be as mentally unevasive as possible. He felt her mind brush against his, much less unpleasant as the first time she'd done it, just a whisper in the back of his head, and she nodded. **

**'Oh…so it's like that, is it?' he heard her voice in his head. 'I had no idea.'**

**She replied to Scott out loud. **

**"He's disappointed, but not unstable. Very controlled." she said, nodding. **

**Liam hid a confused frown as Scott nodded. **

**"Good. Outstanding. Then I think we're almost done here." he said, giving the table two quick raps. "Do you have anything planned for today?"**

**"Um, no. Not that I know of." Liam shook his head. **

**"Perhaps we could impose upon you, then, to give us a hand setting up a surprise for those students staying behind for the holiday break." Emma said. "We have a tradition here at the mansion, that those who stay behind, take a day trip into the city. It gives them a chance to get whatever last minute shopping they have done, and provides an escape from the day to day doldrums here at the mansion." **

**"We usually prepare a totally inappropriately unhealthy dinner for the children when they get back, and spend the evening of the twenty third hanging out watching some of the latest movies in the Danger Room." Scott said. "We need someone to take the kids into the city while we make dinner. This afternoon around two should be perfect. If you don't mind, that is."**

**Liam nodded. **

**"Of course not. I don't mind at all. I actually have to get some shopping done myself." he said. "Maybe I'll take them by Rockefeller Center, see the trees. Just out of curiosity, who usually does it?"**

**Emma glanced down, and Scott's smile faded just a bit. **

**"Well, up until last year, the job fell to our youngest instructor." he said. **

**"Jubes did it the last six years running." Logan said, stepping into the kitchen. **

**Liam blinked in surprise, and Scott and Emma both turned around to face Logan. **

**"Good morning, Logan. I didn't hear you come in." Scott said. **

**"Mornin', Slim. Frosty. Kid." he said, walking over to the fridge, where he removed a bottle of water.**

**He walked back over to the breakfast table, and began riffling through the paper.**

**"They say ya can tell everything ya need ta know about a man by which section of the paper he reads first." he said, frowning at the paper. "Ya seen the funny pages?"**

**Liam grinned and removed the comics from under his napkin, handing them to Logan. **

**"It's the only section worth reading." he chuckled. **

**"Good ta see ya got yer priorities in line, kid." Logan said, folding the paper up and giving Liam a tap on the head with it. "Slim, Frosty."**

**He nodded to them both and walked out of the room.**

**"Yes. Well. Emma and I have things to do today, so if you'll excuse us." Scott said, rising from his chair. **

**"Be right there, Scott. I just want to refill my coffee." Emma said. **

**Scott walked out of the room, and Emma walked over to the sink, emptying her coffee cup down the drain and rinsing it out.**

**"So what's the 'I had no idea' about?" Liam asked softly as Scott turned the corner down the hall. **

**"For someone with a mind as organized as yours, there are things that are quite messy inside your head." she said, turning to face him. **

**Liam smirked, and shrugged. **

**"Yeah. Welcome to the human race."**

**"We should talk. Inside your head. I'd like to show you around, see if maybe we can't straighten things up in there."**

**"What do you mean?"**

**Emma sighed. **

**"It's too complicated to go into detail right now, but the long and short of it is that you have an inner mind, and an outer mind. The outer mind is where your active thoughts are, and your inner mind is everything else. I saw some things in your inner mind a moment ago that I'd like to explore with you, if you're amenable." **

**Liam shrugged. **

**"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." **

**"Good. Then have a nice day with the children, my boy." she said, walking towards the kitchen door. "Try not to go too crazy."**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

**Rockefeller Center, Manhattan, New York**

**December 23, 1758 hours**

Liam leaned against the railing of the ice rink in the fading sunset light, sipping his Venti Carmel Apple Spice from the Starbucks vendor on the corner. His first stop had been to get himself a new winter coat, since, living in LA, he'd not needed one for many years. He'd forgotten how cold it got in Manhattan during the winter months, and it was even worse at the mansion. He'd been able to make it thus far by layering his clothes and snagging extra pairs thermal underwear from the school's stores, but he'd finally had to get himself a proper coat.

He'd managed to find a store that sold a decent impression of an Army Field Jacket. It was the newer UCU style jacket, as opposed to the ACU that he'd worn when he'd been in, and it was ungodly expensive, but it wasn't bad. It kept him dry and warm, even with the snow falling on his shoulders. Beneath the jacket he wore a thermal shirt and a long sleeved T-shirt. Thermal underwear and faded jeans, along with thick socks and heavy work boots kept him relatively warm. A black on black Yankees beanie completed his outfit.

He'd discovered that one of the benefits of working for the X-Men, was that the pay was outrageously good. A monthly salary of six thousand dollars went to Liam's private account. If there was combat to be had, then extra funds were released to outfit each member of the X-Men and New X-Men in whatever equipment they wanted, and from what Liam had seen, some of the equipment was insanely expensive.

Nori's everyday wear gauntlets, which allowed her more sensitive motor control, cost fifty seven hundred dollars a piece, and her hardened combat versions were even more. Scott's ruby quartz glasses were a whopping seven thousand a pair, and his combat visor, which was controlled by eye blinks, was over ten thousand.

The source of all this money was a combination of two things. The late Charles Xavier, who had founded the school and the X-Men, had left his family fortune to the school. It was so vast that just by sitting in the accounts, it generated over one hundred million in interest a year, which meant that the school would never, ever want for money. The second part of the financial equation was a student who had been able to predict the rise and fall of certain statistics, resulting in a scheme that had allowed some of the less scrupulous students to play the stock market and make a small fortune, which Xavier had frozen in its accounts. The interest from these funds had been put to use as a public relations trust, which kept the X-Men out of legal trouble more often than not.

He watched as six of the eight kids he'd taken into the city raced around the rink, with varying levels of skill. Three of them took long sweeping strides, gliding across the ice with smooth movements. Two of the others were a bit more wobbly, following the sixth across the inner surface of the ice, carefully learning to skate.

Laura, who'd accompanied him as a co-chaperone on the trip, was still over at the Starbucks vendor. She'd gone over the menu twice with the poor patient man, and had him describe the ingredients in each drink. Now he was telling her about the flavored syrups she could choose.

Liam smiled. As highly trained as she was, and as smart as she was, simple choices still baffled her sometimes. One of the many things that he loved about her. He loved a lot of things about her, but whether or not he loved her, he wasn't sure yet. He was still working it out.

She finally decided on straight black coffee, and paid the vendor, who chuckled as she walked away to join Liam at the rail.

"Find something you like?" Liam asked.

"Yes." she said, giving him a suspicious look. "Are you making fun of me?"

Liam grinned.

"Maybe just a little." he said, raising his thumb and forefinger to indicate a miniscule amount.

"I could hurt you." she said, sliding across the rail to bump into him.

"Oh, I know it." he said. "In fact, I was thinking you and I might hurt each other a little bit tonight, if you're up for it."

She smiled and blushed, glancing away.

"I think I could manage that." she said softly.

"Good." he said, waving to the last two students to arrive, having been off shopping later than the rest.

"Do we have time to get in a little rink time before we leave?" the older of the two asked, moving towards the skate rental stand.

Liam nodded.

"Yeah. Sure. We'll head out in about half an-" he began, but was cut off by a buzzing in his pocket.

The X-Men had used, once upon a time, belt buckles with the red and black X school logo, that also acted as emergency beacons, but in more recent years, due to the fact that not everyone wore a belt all the time, and more often than not they had a cell phone on them, they'd just gone to nigh indestructible red and black cell phones. When they buzzed like Liam's was, it was never a good thing. Laura reached into her pocket at the same time that Liam did, and removed her phone, which was buzzing as well. They exchanged a look, and moved in opposite directions.

"I'll get the kids." she called, jogging towards the entry to the rink.

"I'll get the truck started." he said, off to start the H3 that they'd brought into the city.

He snapped his phone to his ear, and took off towards West 50th street.

"Go ahead." he said, without preamble.

"Kid. Good. Are Laura and the kids with you?" Logan asked on the other end of the line.

"She's forming them up now. I'm headed to get transport. Sitrep?" he asked, falling back into the use of military language with surprising ease.

"Distress call from Scotland came in seven minutes ago. Betsy's brother Brian Braddock, Captain Britain, called and said a fleet of early generation Sentinels were discovered off the coast of Muir Island this morning. Evidently they were hidden during the early nineties to watch over Moira McTaggart's facility, and they're trying ta start up again. They aren't fully active yet, but they're repairing the damage done by time and the elements."

"You're going on a search and destroy mission." Liam said, frowning as he got a creepy feeling along the back of his neck.

"Right. The school's going on lockdown as soon as yer back. We're leaving now. No one in, no one out. The New X-Men are in charge until we return, so you need to-"

"Secure the perimeter, watch over the kids. Got it." Liam said, glancing around as he pulled the keys from his pocket. "Keller can fill me in when we get back."

He spotted three white men wearing jeans and those stupid puffy jackets that were all the rage in the late nineties, following him towards the truck. He scowled at them, and they tried to look disinterested. He slid into the driver seat of the truck, and started the engine.

"Good. Shouldn't be more than a day or two, kid. Be safe while we're gone." Logan said.

"Roger that. Good hunting." Liam replied, sliding the phone back into his pocket as he pulled away from the curb.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

**Xavier School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York**

**December 23, 1852 hours**

Liam cruised calmly along the long winding drive of the school, tapping the center console between himself and Laura. They'd been conversing wordlessly using Morse Code the entire trip. He'd told her of the men following him, and she'd said that she noticed them as well. About a quarter of the way back to the school, they'd both spotted a pickup following them. Two others joined the pursuit halfway there, and by the time he pulled through the front gates, five vehicles were tailing them. Liam had set the security system to active as he passed through the gates, and had seen the pursuing vehicles pass by slowly, but he wasn't taking any chances with the kids in the vehicle. He knew they'd be back. He pulled to a stop in front of the school's main entrance doors. He glanced back over his shoulder, and smiled at the kids.

"Alright. Last stop, kiddos. Everybody inside." he said, opening his door.

He quickly walked to the back, and opened the rear door, revealing the two smallest children, nine year old twins, in a pair of fold down jump seats.

"Come on, girls." he said, helping them down from the tall vehicle. "In you go."

"Thanks, Mister Kynde." they said in unison.

He followed the kids into the foyer, and found Cessily and Victor standing there waiting for them.

"Hey, guys! Welcome back." Cessily said brightly. "Dinner's all set up in the Danger Room, and the movies are ready to go. The X-Men got a distress call, so they won't be joining us, but we don't need them to have fun, right?"

A few kids chuckled and agreed.

"Are they going to be okay?" one of the older kids asked.

Victor stepped up and grinned a reptilian grin.

"Of course they are. This is what they _do_. No big deal. They should be back in time for Christmas." he said. "They just wanted us to meet you guys here so you wouldn't be worried. If you're ready, we'll go ahead downstairs."

The kids nodded their assent, and Victor led the way down towards the elevators to the sub basements as Laura pulled Cessily off to the side and explained that they had been followed. Liam stepped into the formal living room and dialed Julian's cell. It rang twice before he picked up.

"You back?" Julian asked when he picked up.

"Yeah. Kids are headed down to the Danger Room, but we have a problem. We were followed back. I think it's our friends from last night." Liam said.

"What makes you say that?"

Liam quickly related what had happened in the city, and the ensuing pursuit.

"They followed me, not any of the others. Nobody was obviously a mutant, and like a moron I bought myself a camouflage jacket this afternoon. They didn't make their presence known until after I had the jacket on. Maybe they were following me before, but I can't be sure."

"Smooth, Kynde. Everybody's inside, though, right?"

Liam glanced out the front window as he spoke.

"Yeah. We're all in. Laura's filling Cessily in now." he said.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Liam figured that Julian was working on putting aside his own feelings, trying to stay in business mode.

"So we put the school's security system into total lockdown mode, and ride it out. We were just going to set it on alert, but there's an active threat now." Julian said. "It'll armor the windows and doors, and the walls are already plated with steel on the inside. It'd take a tank to get in once we're locked down. Not to mention the electrical fences and turrets around the property."

"Not that simple, kid. Right now, we've got a chance to end this. If we let them get away, even one of them, they report to their higher ups that there's an Army Ranger training a mutant army. Maybe I'm not so big a threat by myself, but a Ranger trained mutant army is definitely worth their trouble." Liam said. "They won't stop until they wipe us out. They're too slippery for us to fight them completely, so we have to wipe this cell out before they get the information out into the network. That's the one advantage to fighting them."

He walked back into the foyer, and found Laura waiting on him, to see what the plan was.

"They don't communicate so well with the higher ups, operating independently. If we take them out, chances are that nobody else will know we're here. But we have to do it now."

Julian sighed on the other end of the phone, and Liam heard it around the corner. He glanced up as Julian stepped into view, folding his phone and putting it away. Liam slid his own phone into his pocket.

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"You're not taking charge?" Julian asked.

Liam shook his head.

"Nope. In class I'm the boss, but you're in charge in the field. Scott's orders. If I might make a suggestion, though?"

"Yeah."

"You need yourself a black out and a wet works team. Right here, right now. Four or five people. We need to end this threat with extreme prejudice." Liam said. "We need to keep these guys from getting any more information back to the outside world than they already have, and we need to not be X-Men right now."

"X-Force." Laura said softly.

"That's not an option." Julian said quickly.

"Woah, wait. What's X-Force?" Liam asked.

"A few years ago-" Laura began.

"No. I won't consider it." Julian said, taking a step back.

"Scott formed a black ops team. Logan and I, along with two other X-Men. We did wet work that the other X-Men still haven't heard of. That's why the X-Men have been so inactive, working as teachers for so long recently. We made the prospect of mutant crimes so horrific that nobody dared to attack us or draw our attention. This Sentinel mission is more accident than anything." Laura said.

Liam turned back to Julian.

"How do you know about it?" he asked.

Julian didn't answer, but Laura saved him the trouble.

"We were lovers. I didn't have any secrets from him." she said. "We were in love."

Liam shook his head.

"Okay. Let's move right past where we sift through all this emotional muck. X-Force is exactly what we need right now. We need to make sure these men disappear. If we don't, if the rest of Al Jihad finds out that I was here, training young mutants, they'll never ever leave you alone. Even if I leave, you'll become a target. We can contain the damage done right now, if we move quickly." he said. "I'll take the blame later on. You can tell them that I put a gun to your head. They'll believe you."

He paused, remembering the promise he'd made to Kaylee.

"Oh, and, uh…sorry about that whole, putting a gun to your head thing."

Julian waved a hand dismissively.

"Whatever. Look, as much as I hate to admit it, you're right, so here's how it's going to go. Laura, you go downstairs and get Josh and Cess. Tell them what's going on. Get them suited up." he said, turning back to Liam. "We're going to go downstairs and get the information blackout set up."

Laura nodded and sprinted towards the elevators.

"I should be with the team, Keller. We both know it." Liam said, following him.

"Oh, you will be, but you need me to unlock the live ammo in the armory, and it takes two people to set up the EMP web." Julian said, jogging towards the library. "I assume you want to be armed."

"Of course." Liam nodded, as he and Julian pushed through the library doors.

"Open control panel, authorization Keller, Delta, one, one, four." Julian spoke into the air.

An entire bookshelf slid away into the wall, and was replaced by a computer console, which Julian began typing into at a rapid pace.

"This will set up an EMP net, basically, around the property. Anybody coming into the property will have their electronics fried, and there's no way to get an outgoing signal, even if they did manage to get their phones or radios in undamaged." he said, speaking quickly. "All the land lines are voice coded once this goes online, and the X-Men are the only ones with access, so the kids can't be forced to open a line for anybody."

Liam nodded in approval.

"Not bad." he muttered.

"Do you remember the access code they gave you for the voice systems?" Julian asked.

Liam gave him a look.

"Authorization Kynde, Omega, nine, nine, two." he said.

"Signal blocking activated." the console said.

"Good. Now let's get down to the armory." Julian said.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

**Xavier School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York**

**Sub-Basement One, Armory**

**December 23, 1905 hours**

Liam reached into the weapons cabinet, and removed an actual M4 from the rack. Julian tossed him a magazine, and he slammed it into the weapon, raking back the cocking lever and switching the weapon to safe. Two more magazines went into mag pouches on his gray belt. He slung the weapon over his shoulder, only briefly catching it on the gray armored shoulder pad. He straightened his armored black and blue mask, blinking at the HUD it showed in his lenses, and tightened his dark blue forearm guards one more time. The slightly armored black jacket with the dark blue X across the chest fit like a second skin, and didn't limit his range of motion much at all. He still wore black BDU style pants and black combat boots, but the jacket made a pretty strong case for unstable molecules.

"I guess there's something to be said for tights." he muttered.

Julian chuckled tightly.

"For an Army rat turned superhero, you don't look half bad." he said. "Don't get it dirty."

Liam snorted, and flexed his black gloves.

"I'll try not to break any of the expensive bits." he said. "The others?"

"Already suited. Laura's one, headed South, towards the back of the property. Cess is two, East. Josh is three, South, on the front lawn, and you're four, headed East, into the woods. When your belt buckle buzzes once, twice, three times, tap it, and it'll send a four buzz back to them letting them know you're in position. When that happens, you start a counter clockwise patrol." Julian said, putting in a small earpiece. "How's your sound?"

Liam blinked a few times in rapid succession, watching the softly lit HUD move. He selected his comm unit, and it crackled to life in his ear.

"Welcome to the party, slow poke." Josh's tinny voice rang in his ear.

"Thanks, goldenrod." Liam said. "What about you, boss? You gonna join us on this one?"

Julian glanced down at the floor, and sighed.

"No. I'm going to be in the Danger Room, monitoring your channel, with Santo, Vic, and Nori, should you need backup." he said. "Someone's gotta guard the kids, right?"

Liam nodded.

"Sure. Keep the boss outta the line of fire. Otherwise there's nobody to lead." Liam said, muting his mic for a moment. "And don't worry about it. Not everybody's cut out for this kind of work."

He reactivated his mic and started out the door.

"Okay, team. I'm headed up now. Should be in position in three minutes."

Liam nodded to Julian, who nodded back.

"Like they say…good hunting." Julian said softly as Liam left the room at a rapid jog.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Xavier School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York**

**Outer Grounds**

**1910 hours**

POP! POP POP!

Liam ran forward at a crouch, and quickly took cover behind a tree, even as the body fell. He'd fired twice but he'd misjudged the man's height. When the first round fired, the man had straightened, the round catching him in the kidneys. The second took him in the chest, but it only penetrated one lung. As he drew in a breath to scream, Liam had sent a round through his head. It was messy, the bullet having sucked the back of his head out through his face. It wasn't even recognizable as a face anymore. Two large dark wounds dotted his torso, still welling fresh blood, though they couldn't actively bleed without a pulse.

The snow around the body was stained black, the moonlight and Liam's own armored lenses stealing the redness from the blood.

Liam took a deep breath, the cold air heavily scented of iron. He preferred to do this kind of thing at night. Moonlight made everything into shades of gray. Daylight made everything more real. More horrific. Liam was glad that it was dark.

He moved on quickly, activating the thermal sensors in his HUD, a temperature sensitive overlay casting a bluish tint to his vision, dotted here and there with bright orange flares.

"One tango down, three in irons." he whispered.

"What?" came Josh's breathless reply as Liam sighted in on the nearest target.

"He said he's eliminated one target, and he has three more close enough to shoot without a scope. In his iron sights." Laura said softly, a brief grunt and gurgle coming over her comm channel. "Downed four here, tracking two."

Liam fired, his rifle giving a soft pop. The M4 was a relatively quiet rifle anyway, and with the silencer on the end of the barrel, the sound it made was softer than a balloon popping. His second target fell to the ground without a sound, and he moved forward again.

"Oh…well that was helpful. I've taken three. Doesn't seem to be anybody else around. Moving on." Josh said, grimly.

"Mercury, how are you doing?" Liam whispered.

"Five down. Wishing I wasn't here. I don't want to do this."

"I know, sweetie. It sucks. But someone has to do this kind of thing. We need you." Laura said. "You can do this."

Liam fired again, two shots, downing another man.

"I know I can do this. I just said that I didn't want to." Cessily said, a wet gurgling sound followed by a crunch came after her words. "My area's clear. I'm heading South."

Liam crept forward, the fourth man in his sights, turning to face him. Liam froze. The man saw him anyway. Liam fired, but the man managed to let out a howl that raised the hairs on the back of Liam's neck. As the man fell, answering cries echoed through the woods. Liam heard bodies crashing through the brush, feet crunching across the snow, and he switched the rifle from semi to burst. He turned around the tree, and let three rounds fly from his weapon, knocking a man careening through the snow to his back. He spun around as he heard a shout, and fired, missing his target by mere inches as the man was already diving to the snow.

As he was raising his rifle towards the man, Liam heard rather than saw his last assailant fire from behind him, and he already knew that the man had missed. Since bullets traveled faster than the speed of sound, the old axiom of "you never hear the one that gets you" always proved true. Liam ducked around a tree and let two rounds fly, ensuring that the man lying face down in the snow would remain there. Another round fired from behind him, and he felt the tree vibrate with the impact of the bullet.

Whooping calls let him know that the man was getting closer, and he whipped out from behind the tree, letting seven rounds fly, downing three more targets, two of whom managed to get off shots, but they were obviously not used to working in a true combat situation. They had stalked forward, without looking for cover, or zig zagging, holding their pistols right out in front of them as they trudged through the snow. Their rounds missed him by feet.

"They're converging on my position." Liam said, quickly pausing to switch out magazines and tug back the charging handle. "Might need a little assistance."

With those words, a .50 BMG MK.211 round slammed into his rifle, causing it to fire off the chambered round as it fell apart. The polymer pieces exploded into splinters as they broke apart and the steel lower receiver bent into a nearly ninety degree angle even as it began to melt. Shards of plastic embedded themselves in Liam's left hand, lightning pains shooting up his arm all the way into his shoulder as he dove behind the thickest tree he could find.

"Sniper! Sniper in the wind!" Liam said, ripping his glove from his hand.

He stared down at his palm, and scowled, kneeling to shove his bloody hand into the snow. The white power absorbed a fair amount of the blood, and he could make out six pieces of plastic big enough for him to pull out on his own. He started plucking them out and dropping them to the ground, gritting his teeth until his jaw ached.

"Be careful, extra careful, if you come this way." he said, pulling another shard from his hand. "Sniper about three hundred meters from my position, far west. Armor piercing incendiary rounds. Fuck!"

He hadn't seen the sniper, but by the damage done to his rifle, he could tell that the man was unnecessarily close. The round he was using could easily be effective around the two thousand meter range. A shot at such a long range by an armor piercing round would throw a man off his feet. Something so close, especially with the incendiary option, would basically enter the flesh, was absolutely lethal in the worst possible way. A stomach wound would penetrate, and the resulting shock wave would sever the target in half, cauterizing the wounds, leaving him to very, very slowly die from agonizing pain and shock. If the round hit a limb, it was almost guaranteed to be an instant amputation. A chest wound would take out the heart and lungs, leaving one to suffocate, as the brain slowly died from lack of oxygen. A head shot…well, that sort of speaks for itself.

"Either this guy is really really lucky, or he's really really good." Liam groaned, pulling the last large shard out of his hand.

"No such thing as luck." Laura said grimly. "Coming your way."

"Us too." came Cessily's reply. "Josh is with me."

"Careful. Don't get dead." Liam said, tearing off his left forearm guard.

He dropped it to the snow and ripped his sleeve above the elbow, wrapping the stretchy fabric around his hand and securing it around his wrist with a knot tied with one hand and his teeth. He drew the pistol in his left thigh holster, holding it in his right hand. He took a deep breath, and focused on his HUD. He blinked, changing the mini map overlay in the upper right corner of his vision, and it showed an electronic representation of his position, from overhead. The school's main computer was tracking every intruder on the property, as well as the X-Men, and showed them with simple red and blue dots. Two red dots were moving closer from the sides, and a third was far off in the distance, unmoving. He was pinned down.

"Shit. Sniper's got me pinned, and one moving in on either side." Liam said.

A short cry flared in Liam's ear, and he heard the sniper rifle fire one last time.

"Sniper's down." Cessily muttered.

Liam edged his head around the tree to try and get a glimpse of any one of the three men closing in on him. Off to his left, fifty yards away, he could see breath coming from behind another tree, but couldn't see the man. He did, however, see Laura dashing in from the far left, moving without a sound. The next events seemed to unfold slowly, as he watched.

"Careful, X." Liam whispered, but she didn't need it.

She darted behind the tree, and the man came stumbling out from behind it's trunk, her claws buried in his chest. She twisted her wrists, and sheared his ribs in two, spilling his heart, lungs, intestines, stomach, and liver out onto the snow, his blood spraying her from the neck down. She dropped his lifeless body to the ground, moving with unnatural grace as she moved towards the second man, but she paused, and smiled, watching.

Liam followed her gaze, and saw Cessily's liquid metal form flowing across the ground, towards where Laura was looking. A young white man stepped out from behind the tree, panic on his moonlit face, as he fired several rounds at her. The bullets hit her mercurial form, splashing straight through her. She darted towards him, slinking along, and suddenly rose in front of him like a wave. She forced her way into his mouth, and Liam heard him try to gag as his teeth shattered. She poured down his throat, his screams coming out through his nose as she invaded him. She vanished into his mouth, and an instant later, two foot long meal spikes exploded from his body, and spun into motion, shredding him into red and black mist, which stained the snow. The only part of him left whole was his legs from the shins down. She reformed into her human shape, completely covered in blood, steaming in the cold air. Liam couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like she was crying.

"D-d-don't m-move!" he heard, from right behind him.

The third man had managed to get the drop on him as he watched his teammates kill the other men in new and inventive ways.

"I'll f-fu-fucking kill you! I swear! Don't move!" the man's voice was hoarse with panic. "Keep them away from me."

Liam felt the man press a handgun to his back, and heard him sigh, which Liam found odd. He spun, as quickly as he could in the snow, and grabbed the man's weapon hand, yanking hard and pulling the trigger of his weapon, shooting the man in the ribs, but the man was already dead.

Liam was holding the arm of a corpse, it's face a twisted mask of pain, withered and dry, the veins clear against his paper thin skin. His teeth were yellowed, as if they were ancient, and his eyes were cloudy and white, too small for their sockets, like little marshmallows. Liam felt the corpse's arm separate at the shoulder, and he let go as the body fell to the ground. Right behind him, was Josh, glowing with a polished bronze color, instead of his usual gold. Dark shadows seemed to have gathered under his eyes, at his cheeks, around his mouth. He looked thinner and more drawn than normal.

"You're welcome, sunshine." Josh said, smiling.

Liam just looked at him for a long moment. Liam himself was trained in more ways to kill than most people could even imagine, but his new teammates, not only here in the woods, as X-Force, but those in the mansion as well, the New X-Men, could kill in ways that Liam couldn't even conceive of. It made them, potentially, very dangerous people.

"Thanks." Liam said, softly.

He blinked several times, and glanced back at the body on the ground.

"Nice." he muttered. "Let's go."

"No need." Laura said, from way too close.

Once again, she'd managed to sneak up on Liam without him noticing.

"That's all of them." she said.

Liam glanced up at his HUD, and sure enough, the four of them were the only ones showing up on the school's security monitors. The woods were clear, with the exception of four blue dots and several red X's.

"Wow." Liam said. "You guys are quick."

"We may not be as used to killing as you are, but we're not as young and innocent as you'd like to think, either." Josh said, grinning.

Cessily rose beside them, sniffling. She'd left most of the blood in the snow, a watery trail leading from a pair of disembodied legs, but there were still traces in the creases and valleys of her skin.

"I want to go take a shower now." she said simply, not actually looking at them.

For a long moment, nobody said anything, for fear of breaking what little self control she was exerting over herself.

"Okay, sweetie. Let's go inside." Laura said softly, taking Cessily by the arm.

Cessily just nodded and moved numbly towards the school, leaving Liam and Josh alone in the forest. As they stood there, watching the girls head towards the house. Liam glanced at the dully glowing mutant. Josh had a sort of glazed look on his face.

"You alright?" Liam asked.

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Fine." Josh said, making a smooth motion. "Just dandy."

He giggled.

"Are you sure?" Liam asked. "Think you can handle a quick heal on my hand?"

Josh nodded and grasped Liam's arm above the wrist, his hand glowing softly. Liam felt all the little tiny splinters and shards pushing their way out of his skin, and he unwrapped the wounds. Bits of plastic fell to the ground through newly opened wounds, and Liam had to close his eyes against the pain. When it started to subside, he opened his eyes, and looked at Josh. The young man's face was more serious than it had been a moment ago, and there was more intelligence behind his eyes.

"Josh?"

"It's like a drug." the golden young man said, taking the bloody sleeve from Liam's hand. "The killing."

Liam looked at him as he rewrapped the makeshift bandage.

"When I use my powers to heal, I get this warm fuzzy feeling, but when I use them to kill, it's hot…hot and cold at the same time. So cold it burns, and it empties me out. Like there's nothing in the world that's real, that can affect me. I get lightheaded, and just kind of go blank."

Liam didn't really know what to say to that.

"That's why I'm a healer. Why I try to heal as much as I can. The more damage I do, the less there is inside me. The more I do harm, the less real I become." Josh said softly.

"Okay." Liam said, for lack of anything better to say.

Josh smiled sadly.

"Good answer."

Liam smirked.

"Come on. Let's get back inside. Cessily is gonna need help dealing. And I've gotta talk to Julian. We can't leave these bodies out here. We've gotta get rid of them." Liam said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll have Santo do it. He can open up the ground and have it swallow them up."

Liam nodded.

"Okay." He said softly. "Okay."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen****  
****Xavier School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York****  
Main Building Roof**

**December 23, 2****300 hours**

Liam sat silently on the ledge that bordered the roof. The school, built originally as a wealthy land owner's private castle, had a three foot wall around the edges of the roof. Hills and valleys of brick formed what seemed to be the edge of a parapet, and Liam's legs dangled off the edge of one of those hills. Julian leaned against the next one, staring off into the distance, where Josh was leading Santo around the property, watching the big rocky mutant place his hand on the ground near each body. A short rumble and the ground beneath the bodies would open up, swallowing the corpse and a little snow around them. After Santo closed up the ground over them, interring them twenty feet down, he and Josh would kick the snow up around the now bare patch of ground, softening the edges of what looked too much like a grave.

After the fight, Laura and Cessily had left the school, heading out to get Cessily some air away from the death she'd caused at the mansion. She had been having a hard time with it. Laura hadn't been able to leave her side, for fear of her running off and saying the wrong thing to one of the kids. They'd taken Laura's Jeep out into Westchester proper, to have a late drink and maybe some dinner at Harry's.

"This is all your fault, you know." Julian said, reaching into his jacket pocket.

Liam snorted and gave him a smile.

"How do you figure that?"

Julian pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He flicked one out and into his lips. He began patting himself down as he set the pack down on the wall's edge.

"You brought this down on us. We didn't have terrorists attacking us before you got here." Julian said, still patting pockets.

Liam rolled his eyes and reached into his jeans, removing his own Zippo. He handed it to the younger mutant, and sighed.

"Don't any of you people around here carry lighters?" Liam muttered. "And what do you call the mutants who destroyed the school? Any of the times they destroyed the school. Or the F.O.H. Or the Purifiers. Or any of the other people who attacked this place. Those weren't terrorists?"

Julian shrugged as he lit his cigarette. He handed the Zippo back to Liam, and raised the pack of cigarettes in offering. Liam waved them away.

"Nah, I quit." he said. "They're bad for you."

Julian chuckled.

"Being an X-Man will get you killed a whole lot faster." he said. "And no, they weren't terrorists. They were…misguided. Confused. Angry."

"What about Magnus?" Liam asked.

Julian gave him a surprised look, to which Liam rolled his eyes again.

"Just because I'm not an X-Man doesn't mean I don't watch the news. Magneto's a big deal, even to us non-superhero types. And they've been calling him a terrorist for two decades."

Julian shrugged and exhaled a lungful of smoke.

"It's not that simple." Julian said.

"Bullshit. Magnus is an idealist. He's just got more forceful ideals than most." Liam said. "Xavier was the same way, just a different side of the coin. It's very simple, actually. It all comes down to what you believe in, and how hard you're willing to fight to protect it."

"Ah, yes. Xavier's oh so precious 'Dream'." Julian said, sighing. "It's not possible. Not now. Maybe not ever."

Liam glanced at him, and then back out onto the property.

"It's possible. It's likely, even, given time. But it's a question of numbers. Time and numbers." he said. "We need time to get our numbers up. Once we do that, humanity will have to treat us as equals. They won't have a choice."

He waved his hand out towards the woods.

"What do you see?"

Julian frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me tell you what I see. I see a relatively small group of mutants who've banded together for safety. For mutual protection. For family." Liam said. "I see a group of people who can't get by without each other, who would be lost without each other, but who together, have managed against all odds, to hold onto a rather large bit of land in upstate New York against governments, monsters, aliens, enemies, terrorists, and all other comers, for over twenty years."

He turned away from the yard, and faced Julian.

"I see people who can achieve the impossible, if they want it bad enough." he said. "The point is, everybody willing to go to extremes is a terrorist to the other guy. It just depends on who pulls the trigger first."

"I don't believe that."

"Well believe it or not, it's the truth. The whole world can be divided into two categories, Julian. Those people who are willing to pull the trigger, and all the rest." Liam said. "Maybe tonight is my fault, sure. I'll take the blame for it, and whatever consequences that entails. But I can maybe make it right."

Julian frowned at him.

"Why don't I like where this is going?"

Liam smiled.

"Because you're smarter than you look." he said, chuckling. "I can't give you Xavier's Dream. I can't will it into existence. Nobody can. Not Scott, as much as he wants it, or even Xavier, who gave his life for it. What I can do, is give it the time it needs to become a reality."

"What's the bad news?" Julian asked.

"This." Liam said, gesturing towards the yard, where Santo and Josh were burying the last body. "I told you a few days ago that we are at war. Well, war is the cost of dreams. People willing to kill for what they believe in. People willing to die. As ugly as it is, this is what it costs to make a better world."

Julian was quiet for several minutes. He quietly puffed on his cigarette, watching Josh and Santo come back in to the school. Santo waved a rocky hand and Julian returned it. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, his breath fogging in the cold air. He turned and looked at Liam, his green eyes glowing faintly.

"Why?"

Liam frowned.

"Why? Because it needs to be done." he said.

Julian shook his head.

"Why are you asking me for permission? You don't need my go ahead. You're a grown up, you can do what you want. If you really wanted permission you'd be going to Scott or Emma. They're the ones who run the school, and the X-Men." he said. "They'd be the ones to ask."

Liam shrugged.

"Maybe I want to make sure that the next generation of X-Men doesn't wind up caught in the same PR traps as the originals. Maybe I want to make sure that the next generation actually has a chance to accomplish what the originals didn't have time to do." Liam said, sighing. "The first, the second, and even the third generation of X-Men has done an okay job carving out their niche in this world. They've made a name for themselves, and shown that mutants, when we band together, are a force to be reckoned with, but they did too good a job. They showed that the X-Men are a united front, a force for good that doesn't kill. They're like the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four. Big team of heroes, with rules and codes and uniforms."

He turned back to the yard, and leaned against the wall.

"The problem with that is the fact that the X-Men are mutants. We don't kill, because being mutants is already one strike against us. We're on the side of angels, but only just. If we became a team that kills, even in self defense, then all it would take is one slip up or false accusation for us to be demonized again, and all the X-Men's work would be for nothing." he said. "Scott doesn't want to walk so close to that line. He wants those two extra strikes in hand in case of emergencies. He's got some wiggle room, and he likes it that way. Hell, we all do."

"But someone needs to walk that line, don't they?" Julian asked. "Someone needs to be there for the blame to fall on, to let the X-Men keep themselves on the side of angels."

Liam nodded.

"I'm afraid so. Someone needs to be there to do the things that need to be done, no matter how ugly." He said. "They can't be a team, like the X-Men. They need uniforms, not costumes. They can't wear identifiable costumes. No X's anywhere, no blue and gold. No designs reminiscent of any of the "team looks" that the X-Men have used over the years. They need to look like a cohesive unit, but nothing like X-Men. And they need to use conventional weaponry in addition to their powers."

Julian took one last drag off of his cigarette, and tossed it off the roof, watching it spin downward to land in the snow. He was quiet for a long minute, but finally turned to face Liam.

"That's what we really need to be, in order for Xavier's Dream to work, huh?"

"Not we. If it ever came down to it, you wouldn't be a part of it. You'd need to be back here at the school, working on being an X-Man." Liam said, nodding. "But yes, it's what some of us need to be."

"How many would you want?" Julian asked.

Liam shrugged.

"Hypothetically speaking? Since we're not actually talking about this, and you don't know anything about anything that I might be planning, right?"

Julian nodded.

"Of course. You pulled a gun on me in front of the whole school and then got me chased by terrorists. I hate you, remember?" he said, a hint of a smile on his face.

Liam smirked.

"Yeah. Of course." he said, scratching his chin. "Hypothetically speaking? Myself and, say, four others."

Julian nodded.

"Who?"

Liam thought about it for a long moment.

"Where can I recruit from?"

Julian's brows furrowed.

"How young, I mean." Liam amended.

"No younger than, say, seventeen. But they have to want it. Maybe put up open registration for your class and use that as your recruit pool." Julian said. "That goes for anybody you take, actually. They have to want it. You can't just pull them from their lives. They have to ask for it."

Liam nodded.

"Okay. Fair enough. I want Cessily."

"After how badly she took it tonight? Did you not see how shaken up she is?" Julian asked.

"She'll be okay. It's her first outing in the big bad world. She held it together enough to make it upstairs, to shower, and to go out into the civilian world with Laura. She's just freaked out. She'll get over it." Liam said. "She just needs to vent."

Julian shook his head, disbelieving, but didn't argue the point.

"Okay. Who else? Josh?"

"Not Josh." Liam said, shaking his head. "You know about his powers? What they do to him?"

Julian nodded.

"He's told me."

"An addictive personality isn't what we need on this team. Wouldn't be helpful." Liam said. "I'm thinking Megan Gwynn. She's got a dark streak in her. Plus, with her magical abilities, she'd be useful. From what I hear, she's been training with Stephen Strange."

"How do you know all this?"

Liam gave him a look.

"Come on, man. I'm a Ranger and a private investigator. It's my job to know these things." he said.

Julian nodded.

"Fair enough. Next?"

"Who do you think? Who would you put on a team like this? Hypothetically speaking, of course."

Julian thought about it for a minute.

"I don't think Santo, Nori, or Vic would be a good fit. They'd be useful, for sure, but they couldn't handle it." he said. "Maybe one of the Cuckoos."

Liam laughed.

"And split up the team? Risk Emma's wrath? Doubt it." he chuckled. "I do need a telepath of some sort, though. Or someone who can counter them."

"You know who'd be good for that?

"Who?"

"Illyana Rasputin. Darkchylde."

"Pete's sister? Don't she and Megan have some kind of animosity going on?"

Julian shook his head.

"That's ancient history. She and Megan have been training together, actually. The two of them have been working with Strange, and they're very very good." Julian said. "Their powers complement and enhance each other, plus they are both able to disrupt telepathic abilities."

"Okay. Good. Cessily, Megan, and Illyana." Liam said.

"That's three. Who's your fourth?" Julian asked.

Liam paused. He knew who he wanted his fourth to be, and to be honest, she was his first choice for a team like this. In fact, she'd been Logan's first choice for the first (as far as he knew) iteration of X-Force as a wet works team. Liam turned and looked at Julian.

"Are you going to actually make me ask?" he asked.

"Yes." Julian said. "If you can't come out and say it, then you can't have her."

Liam sighed and nodded.

"Alright. I want Laura." he said.

Julian was quiet for a long time.

"Can you promise me that you aren't asking for her for selfish reasons?" he asked.

"No, I can't." Liam said, immediately. "But I can list you a million reasons I should ask for her. Megan has Illyana, from what you say, so they'll be good together. Cessily will need an outlet for her stress, and she and Laura are close. Laura will be a calming influence on her. Plus you can't name me a better choice for this kind of work, excepting maybe Logan."

"What about you? Don't you need an outlet?"

"I was trained to be my own outlet. I can let off steam on my own. I don't need anybody to complain to." Liam said. "But if I do need it, I can always call and bitch to you."

Julian smirked.

"But you can't promise me that you're doing it for those reasons alone." he said softly. "I know that she should be on this team. For the reasons you gave and many more, but I just don't know. I'm torn."

Liam nodded in understanding.

"I would be too. But since this is all hypothetical, you don't have to make your choices tonight." he said, clapping Julian on the shoulder. "Who knows? Once I start my class up properly, maybe someone else will rise to the top. My choices may change. Laura's choices may change. If this isn't what she wants, I won't push it."

Julian sighed.

"I need to sleep on this." he said.

"We both do." Liam agreed. "It's the heat of the moment, and neither of us are thinking exactly straight. We need to process."

Julian nodded.

"Then I suppose I'll see you in the morning." he said, turning to face Liam.

Liam nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be here." he said. "And don't worry. I won't tell anybody we actually agreed on anything."

Julian had to laugh at that.

"Fair enough." he said, walking for the door, where he paused before entering. "Goodnight, Liam."

"Goodnight, Julian."


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Fifteen****  
****Xavier School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York****  
Liam Kynde's Room  
****December 24, 0605 hours**

**Liam slowly rose through the depths of sleep until he realized that there was someone else in the bed with him, lying close, wrapped around him, her head on his chest. He could tell without looking that it was Laura, not only by how she felt, but because her hair smelled faintly of lemons, like always. He took a deep breath, and smiled, enjoying the scent and feel of her for a moment, before the conversation that he knew was coming began. **

**"Liam?" she asked softly. **

**"Yeah." he said. **

**"Cessily's going to be okay." she said. "We went out last night. We had dinner and got drunk. She cried a lot."**

**Liam nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and running his fingers through her hair. **

**"I guess that's to be expected." he said. **

**"Is it?" **

**Liam nodded. **

**"I think so. Most normal people can't just jump into our world without it screwing them up at least a little."**

**"So we're not normal?"**

**Liam chuckled. **

**"Not by a long shot, sweetheart." **

**She went quiet for a while, and Liam sighed deeply. He still didn't know how to tell her that he was leaving the school soon. That he'd be trying to take her and Cessily with him. That he'd be disrupting her life, either way. He liked her, a lot, but he didn't know if she wanted to come with him. It would all be decided in the coming weeks or months, but he still hated keeping the plan from her until he could be sure. **

**"I can't remember ever being normal." she said.**

**Liam held her close, and laid a kiss on the top of her head. There wasn't much he could think of to say to that. **

**"It's all pain and fighting and hiding and killing. This is the closest I've been to normal, ever, and I want to be, but I'm not even halfway there." she said. "I'm an X-Man, and the daughter of a man created to be the ultimate killing machine, as I was. I've been killed more times than I care to remember, but I remember every time. And now I'm regularly sleeping with a guy I've only known two weeks, who is himself a damaged Army Ranger."**

**Liam chuckled.**

**"Actually, that last part isn't that odd." he said. **

**She smiled a little bit, and poked him in the ribs. **

**"Not funny."**

**"Sorry." he said, still smiling. **

**She snorted at him, and moved back to look up at him. **

**"I just wish there was a way for me to…I do not know. Be one person." she said. "Every day I have to choose who to be. Who I was or who I am trying to be, and I hate it." **

**Liam nodded, hating himself a little more. She was practically begging him to tell her what he and Julian were planning.**

**"I know, sweetheart. There's always a way, I think. Be who you are and you'll find the place you need to be. Maybe not the place you were looking for, but something always comes up." he said. "And I'll be here either way. It's not like you're going to scare me off."**

**She nodded, and propped herself up on one arm. The sheet fell away from her body, reminding him of one of the benefits of being with her. She had a body like no other he'd ever seen. **

**"Good. Because I've been feeling stressed out since last night." she said, smiling. "And there are some things I would like to try with you." **

**Liam just grinned. **


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen****  
****Xavier School For Gifted Children, Westchester, New York****  
****Liam Kynde's Room****  
****January 28, 1201 hours**

**"No, no, no, no, no! Wrong! All wrong! Jesus Motherfucking Christ, Borkowski!" Liam yelled, standing so close to Victor that he towered over the reptilian mutant. "How Goddamned useless can one man be?"**

**Liam undid the chin strap of his Kevlar helmet, and hurled it angrily to the ground. He stormed back and forth in front of his squad, absolutely fuming. **

**"How many fucking times do I have to kill you sorry fucks for you to get it right?" he shouted. "Seriously? I wanna know now, so that can just kick the shit outta you and get you done with your fuck ups."**

**Liam really hated being so harsh with them, but he knew that the only way to make them harder was to push them past their breaking points. The only way to get the very strongest performance from them was to be hard on them, and let the weaker members of the team fall behind. **

**Since the D.T.A. attack on Christmas Eve, he'd seen changes in all of the students. **

**Laura had grown away from him, and back towards Julian. Their relationship had become less strained, and they were working much better together. Liam had resisted initially, but it was pretty clear that Julian and Laura were made for each other. When faced with that kind of connection, there wasn't much he could do except step aside and let it happen. Laura had taken to sleeping in her own bed, though she and Liam were still prone to talking into the wee hours of the morning. **

**Julian and Liam had kept up the appearance of mutual dislike, and pretty much avoided each other at every opportunity, but in the training sessions Liam had held Julian had actually impressed him. And even though he'd been very well trained before Liam had arrived, he'd worked hard to take in everything Liam offered, and was a fast learner. Liam was actually proud of the kid, though he'd never admit it. **

**Cessily had hardened herself, no pun intended, since the night of the attack, and had become one of his top students. She was faster, stronger, and more mentally attuned to what was going on around her. It was rare that he caught her off guard anymore.**

**Victor had become a little more solid, physically, and more sneaky. Not just in training, or in being stealthy. He was more devious, and a better liar. He had a calculating way about him that served him well in tight spots. He was able to analyze the best way to get around any obstacle, by any means necessary, and execute the objective nearly effortlessly. Liam thought that given the chance, he'd be a good online operator. Obviously he couldn't operate in normal situations, given his mutation, but he'd be a good hacker or support operator. **

**Santo had become more fluid in his workings, relatively speaking. He was still made of rocks and psionic energy, obviously, but he had gone from being huge and bulky and obviously rocky to forming himself out of the smallest pebbles available, and toning down his size. If one were to glance at him, in a dimly lit room, he could almost pass for human. Bullets no longer bounced off, but were allowed to pass through rapidly made tunnels in his body, and he wasn't adverse to becoming an actual rockslide at the shortest notice. **

**Nori had grown more distant from the team, isolating herself a little more, but with that said, she'd also grown calmer, more controlled. She could spend short amounts of time without her bulky capacitor gloves, containing her power herself. Judging by the amount of power that Liam had seen her exhibit, it was an impressive feat. **

**Josh had grown less controlled, but more powerful. During an incident two weeks prior, he'd actually cured a younger student's blindness after a mishap in the chemistry lab, though Liam had a sneaky suspicion that the lack of birds or animals in the woods surrounding the school was also to be attributed to Josh. **

**The whole team had been inside the Danger Room for six days now, and Liam had "killed" them all more than once. It was the final FTX or field training exercise for the course, before Liam was going to make his offers to those he planned on taking. He planned on taking Cessily, and Megan Gwynn, who was in one of his basic training classes. **

**Laura was a more complicated issue. He wanted her on his team, for the obvious reasons, and also because he just wanted the girl who'd become his best friend with him, but she and Julian were so close to getting back together, that he couldn't interrupt that. She was happy, and he wasn't going to drag her away from that. **

**Illyana, Pete's younger sister, was to be his third choice, but he still didn't know who'd fill out the team as his fourth. Also, he wasn't too sure she'd accept the offer. She was powerful, to be sure, and really good at causing the right kind of mayhem and destruction, but she was also sort of aloof in a way that Liam didn't fully understand. It was like she wasn't just a magic user, but was part of the magic, all the time. It was like she saw more going on that the rest of them could, and it affected her judgment (rightfully so). The only problem was that Liam couldn't count on someone like that to be present and in the moment for whatever the mission might be. He was planning on making the offer anyway, to see if he could train her out of her old habits, but he wasn't sure which way she'd choose. **

**"I swear to God, you're all pissing me right the fuck off. How many times have I killed the entire team? Six? Seven times? And how about each of you individually? Fuck!" Liam continued pacing back and forth. "I should put you all back in the basic class. Kaylee could slaughter all of you dumb mother fuckers. You know what? Just go the fuck away from me." **

**The team stood there stock still, all of them at the position of "parade rest", feet shoulder width apart, hands clasped behind their backs, staring straight ahead, faces impassive. Not a one of them moved. **

**"I'm serious, team. Get the fuck out of my sight. Right fucking now." he growled, stepping forward, standing directly in front of Cessily. **

**"With all due respect, Sarge, you can go fuck yourself." she said, unmoving. "We've got a job to do out here. If you can't control yourself enough to see it through, you need to be replaced."**

**Liam had to fight not to smile. She couldn't have said anything more perfect. He let his face go blank, and stepped away. **

**"Fair enough, Kincaid. You all owe me fifty in cadence pushups for Kincaid's insubordination." he said. "Front leaning rest position, move."**

**As one, the team dropped to the ground, laying their M4 rifles across the tops of their hands so as not to put their weapons in the dirt. Liam hit the ground with them, earning himself some surprised glances. **

**"What are you doing, Sarge?" Santo asked. **

**"I owe you all fifty in cadence pushups for Kincaid's insubordination." he said, smirking slightly. "In cadence…exercise." **


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Chapter Seventeen**  
**Harry's Hideaway, Westchester, New York**  
**February 1, 2030 hours**

**In the back corner of Harry's Hideaway, a grill in Westchester that had been a hangout for Xavier's students and faculty since the school's founding, Liam sat in a shadowy booth, across from Cessily and Megan and next to Illyana, chewing on a thick cut steak fry that had been dipped in Worcestershire sauce. All three girls sat there staring at him, none of them saying a word, all apparently stunned into silence. He'd just revealed his plan to leave the school and form his own team, a group of mutants specifically selected to do what had to be done, no matter how unpleasant. **

**Cessily stared at him with eyes of pure silver, and Megan stared with eyes as fully black as outer space, neither one of them easy to read. Illyana's blue eyes regarded him carefully, her expression inscrutable, no hint of the easy smile that her brother usually wore. She was dressed normally, in her human form, as opposed to her Darkchilde persona, which consisted of goat-footed legs, horns, and a demonic tail.**

**"So, that's the plan. I want you three to be my team. I've got someone from outside the X-Men's usual circle coming in fill out the fourth spot and get things ready for us, but he won't be ready for weeks." he said. "I'm planning on being gone inside the next two months. I'll have a blow up with Julian in the next week or so, and things between he and I will grow steadily more conflicted. Eventually I'm going to tell Scott that I can't be an instructor here anymore."**

**"Hang on. Am I going to be the one to ask the obvious question? Why isn't Laura here?" Cessily asked.**

**Liam sighed. **

**"It's true that she'd be my first choice for something like this, but I can't do that to her. She and Julian are working out their bullshit, and she's finally feeling like a normal person." he said. "I'm not going to take that away from her."**

**"But you can take it away from us?" Illyana asked.**

**Liam gave her an annoyed look and leaned on his elbows, resting closer to the table. **

**"Who here at this table feels particularly normal? Huh?" he asked. "Look, none of us are normal. It's time we embraced that about ourselves. We've been trying too long to fit in and be like humans, but the truth is that we're not like them, and they'll never forgive us for it." **

**He sat back against the booth. **

**"The world needs people like us. The X-Men need people like us."**

**"You mean people like you." Cessily said, frowning at him. **

**"No." Megan interrupted. "He means people like us."**

**She turned to face the silver mutant next to her. **

**"You're the best in the senior class excepting Laura, Ces. You know it and so does everybody else. I'm the best in the junior class. And Illyana…well, she's in a class all by herself." she said, her musical Welsh accent clear in the quiet booth. "We're made for this, Ces."**

**"That's right." Liam said, nodding. "You're the best I have, Ces. I need you for this." **

**Cessily looked back and forth from Liam to Megan, almost in disbelief. **

**"Fine. Maybe you're right. But I never agreed to anything." she said sullenly. "I think this is a one way ticket to getting ourselves killed."**

**Megan nodded.**

**"Probably. Count me in, Boss." she said, brightly.**

**Liam grinned. **

**"This isn't a small thing, Liam." Cessily said. **

**He stared at her for a long moment. **

**"I know that, Ces. That's why I'm asking, not telling. It's up to you to make your own choice. I can't do that for you. I can only offer you an option." he said. "If this isn't something you want to do, then don't. None of us will think any less of you for it. What I'm proposing is a hard thing. It's going to be a hard life, for as long as we may be needed. Take some time and think it over. I don't want your answers just now."**

**"I need no time, Liam." Illyana said, softly. "I must decline. I have responsibilities to Stephen Strange, and responsibilities in the mystical realms that I cannot abandon. The consequences would be dire." **

**Liam scratched his chin thoughtfully. **

**"Okay. Fair enough." he said. **

**"I do, however, know of someone you might try contacting with your offer. I think that what you propose is a good thing, a needed thing, and she might be interested if presented with the idea properly." she said. "She's a former X-Man, currently living with her family in Kentucky. I'll visit her tonight and see if she's interested." **

**"Maybe I should come with you." Liam offered. **

**"No, that will not be necessary. She is not very fond of the X-Men anymore. She's lost more than one sibling to involvement with the team, and so I doubt that she will be very receptive to anyone but an old friend."**

**Liam nodded. **

**"Okay. Sounds like a plan. Let me know." he said, taking a sip of his Dr Pepper. "I've got somewhere to be, with plans to make. You three talk it over. See what you think. I'll go pay up and see you girls later." **

**He stood up, and moved over to the bar, where he put down three twenty dollar bills in front of Harry, the owner and bartender. **

**"For me and the three of them. Keep the change."**

**"Sure thing, kid." Harry said, nonplussed. "Have a good one."**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Chapter Eighteen****  
****Mills Road**

**Westchester, New York****  
****February 9, 0515 hours**

**Feet thudded against the pavement of Mills Road as Liam jogged along in the pre dawn darkness. The air was cold and damp, and his breath formed cold clouds as he panted along. He hated jogging, or running at all, for that matter, but he knew that if he didn't, he'd fall into the bad habit of not doing it at all, and then he'd be in real trouble when he really needed to be able to. **

**He'd always preferred weight lifting, swimming, racquetball, or even riding a bike, over just plain running, but he got up every morning and ran. Sometimes he only went two miles, one out and one back. Sometimes it was five out and five back. Once he'd managed to settle into a rhythm, it wasn't nearly as bad, but getting into the groove of that first mile and a half or so was always a nightmare. **

**He was lost in thought, making plans for his exodus from the school, mulling over the call he'd received from his outside team member the previous night. The man was a Ranger that Liam had trained years before his last mission, named Thomas Pope. **

**He'd come to Fort Benning as a Ranger Trainee, from a medic battalion stationed in Egypt. He'd been promised Ranger training as part of his entry contract, but when he finished his Advanced Individual Training, or AIT, he'd been immediately sent to the Gaza Strip to work as a combat medic attached to one of the many Infantry battalions there. It was only after two years of combat rotations that he actually made it to Ranger School. **

**Finally back at Fort Benning, Pope had entered into Liam's final CONUS (or Contiguous United States) based class, and had excelled in all aspects of his training. For sixty one long and painful days, Liam and his fellow Ranger instructors had tried their damnedest to get every one of their trainees to quit. He'd managed to drop about half the class for failure to perform, or by simply making life too hard for the young men to bear, but Pope had been at the forefront of everything, always leading the way for his fellow trainees, and scoring highly in every event. **

**Liam and Pope had parted ways after the Ranger graduation, but had met again in Venezuela. Pope had been one of the Rangers sent to extract Liam and his team from their catastrophic mission against Cortez. After Liam left the Army, he'd kept in contact with the young man. Pope wound up coming out to LA after his discharge, and had found work as a military consultant for a Hollywood film studio. Liam had called him the instant he'd decided to leave Xavier's School, back in December. **

**He'd asked Pope for a favor, explaining in detail what had gone on over the last few months, and his plans for the future. Pope had enthusiastically agreed, and so Liam had tasked him with finding them a base of operations, and stocking up on military hardware. They needed a place large enough to house the normal team, plus anyone they might need to bring in from outside, with a place to store weapons and equipment for just about any type of mission they might be called on, and with enough land that they wouldn't be disturbing any neighbors with their comings and goings. **

**Pope had called back late last night, saying that the preparations were almost complete. He spoke in code, so that anyone who might potentially be listening would not understand. **

**"I've done as you asked. An hour north of green town is our base. It rocks. See you when you get here." he'd said. **

**He'd acquired Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland, about an hour's drive north of Dublin. It was the family home for the **Conyngham Marquisate**, until late 2010, when a series of bad business decisions had forced the latest Marquis Conyngham to sell the estate. It had been used in the past as a concert venue for such legendary rock bands as U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Queen. Liam and Pope had actually both attended the Rolling Stones Final Concert two years prior. For the last few years, the castle and its grounds had been maintained by the owning corporation, until Pope had purchased it using untraceable black ops funds. **

**One of the advantages to being a special operative in the US Army was the amount of financial backing one could access if one knew the right accounts and passcodes. The Gulf War had cost just a little over sixty one billion dollars, and the so called "War on Terror" which still hadn't been officially ended by the US Government, had far surpassed that, and so the US Government had put aside several "black ops" accounts, for use by those who needed them during their work, but couldn't have their funds traced. These primary accounts each had upwards of ten million dollars in them, and the money just sat there, earning interest and dividends. The interest and dividends were where the real money was made, and so that money was funneled into other accounts, to do the same. At any time, certain operatives, be they CIA, NSA, or some breed of Special Forces, could access the secondary, tertiary, or the new quaternary accounts, pull out as much money as needed, upwards of several million dollars, and spend it as they saw fit. The principle money was recycled, or doubled via dividends, about every ten years. The principle money, which totaled almost one hundred billion dollars, stayed where it was, and was checked by the very few people who knew of it very rarely. Of course, if one knew how the system worked, one could trace the flow of money back through the system, and access several primary accounts, siphoning off several billion dollars, without anyone ever noticing. **

**Pope, in addition to being an excellent Ranger, and a damn fine medic, had a knack for slicing through computer codes and firewalls with the greatest of ease. He'd managed to snare them almost two billion dollars in untraceable funds. It was enough to buy the castle outright from the realty company, outfit them with the best of weapons and ammunition, and even get some S.H.I.E.L.D. cast offs, like several sets of H.A.W.K. harnesses, prime ballistic armor, and short range mutant power dampeners, though Liam didn't know any of those details yet. All he knew was that his new base of operations was waiting for him. His new home was ready.**

**He let a little smile play across his lips, and picked up his pace, running on in the cold morning air…**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter Nineteen****  
****Kitchen, Xavier's School for Gifted Children**

**Westchester, New York****  
****February 13, 1730 hours**

**Liam stood across the center island, suspiciously watching Megan carefully assemble what was known by some as a McGangBang. He'd never heard of the monstrous sandwich, and so had to rely on the winged young woman's expertise. He wasn't entirely sure that he'd be able to eat the thing, but she'd promised him an extra fifty pushups if he didn't love it. He wasn't about to pass up an excuse, any excuse, to make his students stronger. Especially her, since she'd be coming with him when he left. **

**They'd been out in Manhattan for the day, planning. She was the first one he'd gotten an answer from, and so he'd let her in on some of his plans, and had given her an exit strategy. When the time came, she was going to tell Scott that she needed a chance to go elsewhere to learn, seeing as she'd graduated last year. She wanted to get an actual education, and though Xavier's could give her an education like no other, she wanted a degree from a real university. There were places in Europe with schools that were filled with students who were obvious mutants, and she'd be rather vague when she explained it, but she'd basically tell him that she'd be in Europe if he needed her. She was going to be the first to leave, and Liam would go two weeks later.**

**They'd stopped at McDonald's on the way home, and she'd talked him into trying the beast of a sandwich. **

**"You start out with two sandwiches, right?" she said.**

**He watched as she unwrapped a Hot and Spicy Chicken Sandwich and a McDouble. **

**"Then, you wind up with a sandwich and two halves."**

**She opened the McDouble between the two beef patties, and inserted the entire Hot and Spicy, bun and all, laying the top half of the McDouble back on top of the Hot and Spicy.**

**"And you're back to one sandwich." she said, looking up proudly. **

**"Oh my god. That's ridiculous." he said. "How can you eat this?"**

**She rolled her eyes, or at least, he thought she did. It was hard to tell with her solid black lenses. **

**"How do you think I've kept up my girlish figure with all the extra work you're putting us through?" she asked, preparing her own sandwich. "I've been eating twice what I normally do, just to maintain my weight. It's crazy. You're crazy."**

**Liam looked dubiously at the sandwich. It was full of protein, obviously, and carbs. **

**"Two of these for each Danger Room session with you, plus normal meals, and I'm barely keeping steady. Eight hundred forty delicious calories each, jam packed with flavor." she said, grinning as she smashed her sandwich down. "Go ahead. Try it."**

**Liam picked up his sandwich, and stared at it for a long moment before he actually took a bite. He chewed carefully, testing the food, and found that it was surprisingly good. The flavors and textures didn't mix at all in his mouth, but stayed separate and distinct. Cool lettuce, crunchy spicy chicken, creamy cheese and mayo, lightly toasted bread, with meaty beef. **

**"Oh my god." he said softly. "This is amazing."**

**She smiled at him, and nodded. **

**"Why do you ever doubt me?" she asked. **

**Liam shrugged, and took another large bite. **

**"I won't ever doubt your culinary skills ever again." he promised, glancing at the door as Cessily walked into the room. "Hey! You've got to try this thing. It's delicious, and it totally shouldn't be."**

**Cessily shook her head, her hair pulled back tightly away from her face. **

**"I don't like this plan. I agree that this needs to be done, but I hate you for it." she said softly, frowning at him. "I don't want to do this, but I have to. You can count on me. I'll be ready." **

**Liam nearly choked on the bite in his mouth as he tried to swallow it, but he managed to avoid embarrassing himself too much. **

**"Okay. Okay. Good." he said, trying to clear his throat.**

**"It's going to cost you, though." Cessily said. "I'm not going to make this easy for you."**

**Liam nodded. **

**"Name it."**

**"Get out." she said flatly.**

**Liam gave her a confused look. **

**"I don't understand." **

**"You leave now. Tonight. I need to not have to see you every day for a while." she said. **

**Megan looked back and forth between the two of them, and quietly picked up her sandwich and her drink. **

**"I'll just let you two do this by yourselves." she said, leaving the room quickly. **

**Liam stared at Cessily for a long time before he spoke. **

**"So you want me gone. Tonight. How am I supposed to make that happen? What am I supposed to tell Scott and Emma?"**

**She shrugged. **

**"Not my problem. But that's my price, Liam. You leave, by midnight, or the deal's off. You can spend the month and a half you have left here trying to replace me. Maybe you can get Nori into shape in time. Or maybe one of the younger kids from the Junior class could take the spot." She said. "I don't care either way. But you need to be gone tonight. You've got six and a half hours to decide."**

**Liam squinted at her for a long moment. **

**"You're a real bitch, Kincaid. You know that, right?"**

**She nodded. **

**"And you're an asshole of the highest caliber."**

**Liam nodded back. **

**"Well, at least we understand each other. Welcome to the team." he said, taking another bite, and starting to plan out what he was going to say to Scott and Emma. "I'll send you a package after I leave. Go where it tells you. A bishop will be waiting for you. He'll bring you to me."**

**She nodded again, and left the kitchen without a word. **

**"Fuck." he muttered.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Chapter Twenty  
Liam Kynde's Room, Xavier's School for Gifted Children**

**Westchester, New York  
February 13, 2005 hours**

Liam sat on the edge of his desk, staring into Laura's eyes, trying to come up with the right words to say. He'd been sitting there silently for a minute and a half. He'd asked her to meet him in his room, through the mansion's locator system. Now, faced with explaining why he was leaving the mansion, he had no idea what to say. And so he sat in the recently stripped room, with his duffel bags next to the door, letting the silence stretch on and on.

"Why do I get the feeling you're about to tell me something I won't like?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

He sighed, and folded his arms.

"Because you won't. I'm about to tell you something, and it's the same thing I'm going to tell everyone else, but I thought that you at least deserved to know that you're being lied to, and why." he said. "You're my friend. My best friend, probably, and I want to be as honest as I can with you."

She gave him a suspicious look, but nodded.

"Alright. Go ahead."

He took a deep breath, and forced the words to come out of his mouth.

"I'm leaving tonight. The Army has reactivated me. I got the call this afternoon, and they told me that they'd come here in force to retrieve me if I refused." he said.

She smiled slightly.

"Okay. You're right. That's a lie. Keep going."

"They told me that they'd hold the school responsible if I refused, and they'd make life for anyone here...unpleasant." he said. "I'm going back to training. Some guerilla resistance needs Rangers to come train their people to fight the wars we know how to fight. Apparently the guy in charge is very important to the President."

She shook her head.

"Why are you telling me this? Why the lie?"

"Because it's safer that way. If nobody knows where I'm going, nobody can follow and get into trouble, or be tied to what I'm going to do."

She sniffed the air delicately, her nostrils flaring.

"You're not lying anymore."

He shook his head.

"So you're going somewhere that is potentially dangerous. You're leaving on short notice. The Army has nothing to do with it. Your decision has stemmed from the attacks at Christmas?"

Liam blinked. He hadn't expected her to pick up on it so fast. Of course, he should've known better.

"Sort of. It's been on my mind for a while, but the attacks sort of cemented it. There are some things I need to take care of, but I can't say what they are."

She snorted at him.

"You are so transparent, Liam. Logan will see right through this faster than I did. I know what you're doing. If he doesn't already know what you're doing, he will soon." she said. "He won't know where you're going, but he's going to understand what you're doing, just like I do."

He nodded.

"I know. That's why I'm not telling him." he said. "I'm telling Scott and Emma next, and then my classes. Then I'm gone. I may be back, and I may not."

"So that's it? This is you saying goodbye." she said exasperatedly, standing up.

"Come on, Laura. Don't be like that. Believe it or not, I'm doing the right thing here. I really am." he said. "It's not like you're going to wilt away without me."

She frowned at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Liam rolled his eyes.

"You and Julian are so retarded for each other its...its...its retarded. You to idiots belong together."

"That's not your choice to make." she said, poking a finger into his chest.

"If you had to choose right now, would it be me?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. She stared angrily at him for a long moment and then gave him a frustrated grunt, turning away.

"That's what I thought." he said. "Look, I just wanted to tell you what I can, because as your friend, I thought I owed you that much."

She stood there with her back to him for several long moments before she spoke. Her voice was so soft at first that he didn't catch what she said and he had to ask her to repeat it.

"Don't go?" she asked softly.

Liam sighed again, slowly rising to his feet.

"I have to." he said. "I don't have a choice."

She rounded on him so swiftly that he thought she was going to punch him, but she just shoved him. Her hair swung out of her face, and he saw the tears spilling down her cheeks.

"What the hell, Liam?" she sniffled, just a hint of a smile curling her lips upwards. "You come in and save me from a living nightmare, and make me feel like an actual person, and help get me to the point that I'm not afraid of going after what I want, and then you just up and leave? That's a dick move, Liam. A real dick move."

He had to try hard to keep the smile off his face.

"Well, I'm sorry to have upset you like this, Laura, but you can go fuck yourself." he said, keeping his face as neutral as he could.

"Ass." she said, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck, and burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you. And it may not be in the normal way, but I love you."

Liam smiled, and returned the hug.

"I know."

**Pool Area, Xavier's School for Gifted Children**

**Westchester, New York  
February 13, 2030 hours**

Liam kept his mind carefully neutral as he stepped out onto the patio behind the school. He heard the sound of bubbling water, and followed it to the hot tub. As he turned the corner, he found Emma sitting in the color changing bubbly water, immersed up to her shoulders, eyes closed, a pleased smile on her face. He couldn't see any hint of a bathing suit, but didn't really try to hard, keeping his eyes above the waterline.

"You're leaving." she said, without opening her eyes.

Liam smirked.

"You don't seem to broken up about that fact."

She smiled a bit wider, and opened one eye just enough to see him.

"Oh, my dear boy, I've got my qualms about it, but one cannot be bothered by such trivial matters when submerged in pure bliss. For instance, you're blaring mental white noise so loud that it almost hurts, but I'm not upset." she said. "You're about to lie to me, but I'm not upset. I can't tell why you're lying, or what the truth is, and I don't care to try at the moment, because I'm not upset."

Liam smiled and sat on the edge of the hot tub.

"Does this mean you trust me?"

She laughed, and settled deeper into the water, keeping only her head above water.

"Not even a little bit, but I don't think you're going to do anything overly stupid. You've weighed the pros and cons of staying or leaving, and made what appears to be a rational choice." she said. "Then again, I've been wrong before."

"I'm leaving tonight. The Army has reactivated me. Told me that they'd come here in force to retrieve me if I refused." he said. "They'll hold the school responsible if I refuse, and they'd make life for anyone here...unpleasant. Some guerilla resistance needs Rangers to come train their people to fight. Apparently the guy in charge is very important to the President."

"You're lying, my boy." she said, still smiling. "It's not nice to be evasive.

"It's not nice to rub the inside of a stranger's head raw just because you can." he said, though he hadn't felt even the slightest brush against his mind.

She sighed pleasantly.

"It's nice to know some things never change." she said, closing her eyes again. "Have fun on whatever little adventure you've got planned. Don't get dead. There will be a place for you here if you feel the need to return."

Liam nodded.

"I will. I'll try not to embarrass you while I'm out in the world."

Emma chuckled.

"Don't be silly. Of course you will." she said, grinning. "Now go. Scott's on his way here for deliciously inappropriate things of which you can only dream. I'll save you the trouble of giving him your notice, and I'll have the silly little taxi you've called to take you to the airport changed to something more appropriate. But you owe me one."

Liam nodded again, and stood up.

"Thanks, Frosty. If you need to call in that favor, let it be known. Someone will get in contact with me."

"Likely story, Liam." she said, as he walked away.

**Front Drive, Xavier's School for Gifted Children**

**Westchester, New York  
February 13, 2050 hours**

Liam sat on the edge of the school's front steps, watching stars twinkle in the darkness as he waited on his ride to the airport. From the far end of the driveway, he heard the sound of two motorcycles coming in onto the property. Logan's bike's roar was unmistakable, but the other one sounded like a sport bike. Kurt, Liam guessed. He saw the bike's headlights chasing shadows through the tree lined driveway, as the two men sped along, pulling into the circular drive just in front of Liam. To his surprise, the second rider was Hank. They both swung their kickstands down and dismounted their bikes.

"Hey, kid." Logan said, chewing on the end of a lit cigar. "Goin' someplace?"

Liam nodded.

"Away. Army stuff."

Logan snorted.

"Bullshit."

Liam shrugged.

"Duty calls."

Hank shook his head.

"'Concern yourself with right action. Let duty take care of itself.' Qui-Gon Jinn. What's going on?"

Logan just snorted again.

"Kid's got himself a mission. Something that's takin' him away from the school. Looks like a man with a crusade."

Liam shook his head as he stood up, dusting himself off.

"Nope. Just a job. Gotta go train another army to fight another war."

Logan shrugged.

"Don't get dead. I'll keep a beer in the fridge for ya." he said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder as he passed by.

"Indeed. Should you need anything in your travels, don't hesitate to call on us." Hank said, shaking Liam's hand as another set of headlights began traveling up the driveway. "Be safe, my young friend."

Liam nodded.

"Thanks guys." he said, hefting his duffel bags off of the ground.

The front doors closed behind them, and Liam stepped out into the drive, watching as the black vehicle pulled into the circular path. It was a matte black military style Hummer H1 Alpha, with matte black bumpers, running bars, and a huge grill protector. The light bar across the top of the windshield went dark before it swept over Liam, and the driver pulled to a stop right next to him.

"Well, I suppose sending me a vehicle of war is more appropriate. Thanks, Frosty." Liam muttered.

The driver, a short, thin blonde man dressed in a neatly pressed black suit, got out and came around the front of the truck.

"Good evening, sir. I am Alexander. You would be Mister Kynde?" he asked in a slightly British accent.

Liam nodded.

"Yeah. That's me."

"Very good, sir. Please allow me to get your bags."

Liam handed one duffel bag over and followed Alexander to the rear of the vehicle. Alexander opened the rear hatch, and they both placed the duffels inside. Alexander went back around and opened the rear passenger door, and Liam climbed into the warm cab. On the seat he found a large, highly polished wooden box, with an envelope lying on top. He fastened his seat belt and then picked up the envelope.

He slid it open, and found a simple note in Emma's elegant handwriting.

'Do come back safely. I'd hate to think that I've wasted so much time on you. Hopefully these will help you keep yourself in one piece.'

He set the envelope aside, and picked up the box. It was heavy, and warm to the touch. He opened the lid as Alexander climbed back into the driver seat.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked.

Liam smiled down at the box's contents, and closed the lid.

"LaGuardia. I've got a flight to catch."


End file.
